RWBYond Hope
by mediaocrity4
Summary: Summer just wanted a better life for her children. She wanted one that in place of anger there was joy. In place of malice there was kindness. In place of fear there was hope. Prequel story revolving around Ruby's pre-hero life all the way up until the night she was accepted into Beacon.
1. Chapter 1

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: Welcome to a new story. This one, if you couldn't tell by the description, is about Ruby's childhood. If you're a returning reader of mine, I have a poll asking who your favorite villain from RWBYond Vale was.**

Chapter 1: Her Mother's Eyes

Tai sat out in the hallway. The pained screams of his wife echoed through the hallway. Part of him was nervous. He already had one toddler who was already a handful. How was he going to handle another one? Could he handle another one? How long would it take for Summer to recover? How was he going to provide for a whole other mouth to feed without Summer bringing in money from hunts? Was Qrow going to pitch in? Could he pitch in? Was he even getting paid for playing delivery boy for Ozpin? If so, did he even have enough for himself? He could always move in, it's not like Tai had any say in the matter, it was Summer's house and she wouldn't say no to a total stranger, let alone Qrow.

And just as it had in this point when Raven was giving birth, Tai thought about how it came to this. Summer had taken charge the minute Raven left. When Tai tried going after her, Summer literally slapped sense into him. Tai had nearly broken down, even knowing months ahead of time what Raven's decision was, he couldn't believe it. How could someone just…leave their family behind.

Speaking of her family, Summer had nearly put Qrow in the hospital when he tried going after Raven. Summer was adamant that none of them could find Raven unless she wanted them to. They had their own lives, their own responsibilities to worry about. If Raven didn't want to be a part of this, then there was no room for a search party. Being a parent wasn't just a job. It was a twenty-four-seven responsibility. And Summer had fed Yang, gave her baths, cut her hair, picked out clothes, painted her room, made her bed, played with her, sang to her, read to her, even changed her diapers. She did all the things a mother was able to do. For that reason, after a year of this, Tai decided that Yang's mother WAS Summer.

Summer was against lying. She wanted Yang to know and understand that she was loved for the sake of love, not some familial obligation. Qrow was neutral. He wanted to tell Yang the truth, but he also knew, probably more than anyone at that point, how dangerous that could be. That Branwen drive for knowledge and power was supposedly genetic. So they decided to shy away from the truth until she was ready, until they were all ready.

And then Yang said her first words and called Summer mama. Summer broke down and cried. She cradled Yang and nestled her up against her face. With tears in her eyes she told Yang that yes, she was her mama.

It was just a few days later that Tai and Summer found some free time in the afternoon to have some coffee. Yang had just fell asleep to take a nap. Summer celebrated that Yang was picking up language pretty early, even though she could only say a few words and took serious prodding.

"I feel lucky you know." Summer said. "I get to play all the best parts of being a mother and didn't have to go through hours of labor to do it."

"Just wait until she's a teenager." Tai joked. "It might look like a Xiao Long time from now…"

"I'm sure I can handle it." Summer said.

"You're a great mom." Tai said.

"You're a great dad." Summer took a sip of her coffee. She stared at him intently, frustration laced on her face. "Still, I wonder what it would be like…to have a whole person growing inside of you."

"Sounds like the beginning of a bad scary movie." He grinned.

"Tai, I'm being serious." Summer said. "Have you ever thought about having another one? Just to give Yang a playmate."

"I don't see how that would be possible." Tai said obliviously.

"Screw it, I tried being subtle." Summer shot up to her feet and grabbed Tai around the collar. "For over a year now, I have been giving you smiles and glances and bedroom eyes and changed half my wardrobe to be more appealing." She kissed him on the lips feverishly.

"Wait…what?"

"God…damn it Tai. You are so freaking stupid." She pulled him into another kiss, this time he wasn't completely shocked and helpless. He tried to kiss her back but he was having trouble keeping up. "I love you! You, big, stupid oaf." She kissed him again.

"Huh." Tai's world opened up. Sure, he had thought about it these last few weeks, maybe even months. The glances he sort of noticed, but he thought it was more for Yang's sake. He didn't even notice the wardrobe change. Then again, really looking at her now and comparing it to Beacon, he didn't think Summer knew what a wardrobe change was.

"Oh God." She put him back down and turned bright red. "I'm so sorry. I…I know you're probably still getting over Raven. And you probably don't really think of me that way. I just thought, if we're parenting Yang we should be a couple because I really love you and always have."

"Wait, why are you apologizing?"

"I was selfish and rash. I got so frustrated that I didn't take your feeling into account and now I made things awkward and…" Tai cut her off with a kiss.

"Summer…it's fine." Tai said. "I'm over Raven. I really AM just that oblivious. Seriously, even looking back on it now. I still don't see the changes. I mean, you do realize a cape is part of a wardrobe right?"

"I…" Summer examined her cape and hood and seemed to realize that her hot outfit was nearly completely obscured by it. "Well I guess I always gave you those looks. Still…I'm a reasonably attractive girl and you're a hot blooded man. I'm shocked and kind of offended that you didn't jump at the chance to sleep with me."

"Okay that…that is me being a gentle man who also happens to have had a very recent ass kicking of the heart." Summer blushed at how sweet his words were. Tai took her into his arms. "But now that everything is out on the table…how about I take you out on the table."

"What does that even…" He spun her around and kicked her heel out, pulling her into a kiss as she leaned onto the table.

That was how all this started. They started doing the typical things people do. They went on dates, they parented Yang. They did things as a family and about a year later, Summer was ready to pop a baby out. Tai had gotten wicked flashbacks of how vengeful Raven had been with morning sickness. Summer was much more…pathetic. Groaning and crying all the time. Sitting by the laundry machine and crying for no reason. Truly the process of growing a human was a strange and terrible thing that Tai was SO glad he was biologically incapable of.

Which brought him back to the present. Yang was laying on her stomach on the floor at his feet. She had a crayon in one hand and was scribbling massive circles on a piece of paper. At least this wasn't as loud as her previous activity, banging the toy cars into each other while making vroom sounds.

"Mr. Xiao Long." The nurse said. "She's ready."

Tai hadn't even realized that the screams had stopped. Tai walked in with Yang hand in hand. Summer was cooing a silent baby wrapped in white towels. Tai walked over to the bed in nervousness. Yang stared up at her mama and her new little sister with a mixture of curiosity and awe. When Tai looked at his loving girlfriend he saw so much hope and joy and absolute beauty in her eyes. But she also had a little bit of dread. Tai peeked at his new born daughter and saw her eyes, wide and silver just like her mother's.

"Have you thought of a name." Tai said. He reached for his youngest daughter. Summer gently passed him the baby and started singing a song.

"Red like roses fill my dreams." She sang. Tai noted the little specks of red hair sprouting from her forehead. "Ruby Rose."

"Rose?" Tai asked.

"She is my daughter…she…" Summer's face drew a frown.

"If this is about Raven…"

"No it's not…good heavens no it's not about that." Summer turned her head. "Silver eyes shine brightest in the dark of the night. A mirror that shows not the world as is but as might. It is her heritage. Rose and silver go hand in hand. It's the same as I. By the same logic that you, and Yang, and so many others were born I should be Summer Seasons, not Summer Rose. Rose was my mother's name and it was her father's before her."

"So you're saying that because she has silver eyes, she's part of this clan of yours."

"Yep." Summer said with a pop.

"Well you could have just said it instead of all that, whatever it was."

"Hey you try pushing a kid out and then string together simplified thoughts." Summer shot out.

Tai just gave a laugh and kissed Summer on the cheek. He cradled Ruby in his arms and she made some kind of gurgling sound. He looked down at Yang who was staring up at the bundle of towels like she was in some sort of trance. Her hand was clenched tightly around Tai's pant leg.

"Het pumpkin." He said. "Want to see your baby sister."

"Sis…ser" Yang struggled out. Tai squatted down to show Yang. Yang's jaw dropped when she saw the newborn staring blankly up at her. "BaBy." Yang pointed.

"That's right Yang. This is your baby sister Ruby." Tai said. "Do you want to hold Ruby?"

"Ru…By?" Yang pointed at her.

"That's right Ruby, now what's your name?"

"Yang!" She said cheerfully as she pointed a thumb to herself.

"You see Ruby; this is your big sister Yang." Ruby reached up for Yang and grabbed the toddlers finger. Yang shook said hand and watched Ruby's grip tightening. Tai picked Yang up and set both down in a chair. He adjusted them to where Yang was holding her in an appropriate way. He then sat next to Summer and laid his head down on her lap.

"They look so cute together." Summer said. "She laced her fingers through his hair." Tai dug in his pocket so that he could take a picture on his scroll.

"Excuse me." The nurse said. "I need to see Ruby now."

"I got to get the kid home anyway." Tai reluctantly got up. "I'll be back when it's time for you to come home." He kissed her on the lips. Her lips were coarse and dry. He parted them and walked over to Yang. When the nurse reached for Ruby, Yang flinched and pulled Ruby away, her eyes flashing for an instant. She looked angry for half a second before looking at the nurse curiously and looking to her dad.

"Give your sister to the nice nurse lady." Summer said. Yang looked back at the nurse and reluctantly gave Ruby to the nurse.

"You are going to be a great big sister." Tai said as he picked up Yang.

"The bestest." Yang said with a smile. Tai gave her a sloppy kiss causing her to laugh.

"Let's give mommy and Ruby some rest. We get to go home and watch all the cartoons without them." Yang lit up.

"Yippee." She cheered. Knowing that Yang was, either by instinct or choice, protective of Ruby, eased Tai's mind. He wasn't sure if he could handle them being at each other's throats all day for the next fifteen years or more. And what a long fifteen days it would be.

 **An: Please review, follow and favorite. This story is going to have 25 chapters of varying length, with a chunk dedicated to it's own little arc that is much more akin to my previous stories. Which if you haven't read them, do so. All my stories are interconnected and add to the bigger picture of Remnant as I have envisioned it.** **By the way, Bubbajack, when you eventually read this, that flashback segment was for you.**


	2. Chapter 2

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: Please review, follow and favorite for chapters every day. This chapter is going to have a pretty simple setup used as an excuse to subtly hint at things to come (or that came because this is a prequel). I hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 2: Happy birthday

Summer stood in the kitchen with Ruby wrapped in her arms. Ruby was going to town drinking up that formula in the bottle. Summer had exclusively breastfed Ruby for the first six months but now Summer was slowly phasing it out. Which was fine because she was too embarrassed to breastfeed with all the people that were around. And she definitely didn't want to keep the birthday girl away from the party. And seeing as she didn't breastfeed Yang at all, it would limit the blonde girl's confusion. Speaking of which.

"Mama, mama." Yang tugged on her cape. "Looky what I drew for Ruby!" She held up a piece of paper with indiscernible swirls and lines that if you squint, looks like a sun.

"It's beautiful darling." Summer gave a big smile which earned a big toothy grin in return. Tai leaned down and examined the picture.

"Well, I think that's one for the fridge for a while." He said. "Can you write Ruby's name?" Tai looked at his daughter. Yang looked a little puzzled. "Here I'll help you." He hoisted her up onto a stool and helped her grab her crayon. "R." He helped her write it. "U. B. Y." They set the crayon down.

"Look Mama!" She cheered. "I did it! I did it!" Yang could barely manage writing her own name, let alone someone else's. She was also clearly still in the naming phase of scribbling. Still, for a three-year-old, she was progressing nicely.

"Good job Yang." Daisy said. Daisy had been Summer's childhood friend and playmate growing up. Now she and her husband worked a farm along with their eleven-year-old daughter Olive. There were a few other people from around town. Summer had her doubts that any of them actually cared much for Ruby. I mean, sure the Rose family legacy still carried a lot of weight, just like how anyone connected to the Glens family were given special treatment. No, most of the people were here because they knew Summer…more importantly they knew that Summer would be baking.

 _Ding_

"That's the cookies." Summer said. She passed the baby onto Tai so she could get the cookies out. Olive ran up to her with two of her friends.

"Olive, get back and let auntie Summer get them out." Daisy said.

"I know." Olive said stepping back as Summer pulled out the tray of cookies.

"Me first, me first." Yang reached from the counter. Summer passed her one.

"Careful sweetie, it's hot." Summer warned. She put the cookies onto a plate. "Olive, can you put these on the table?"

"Yes ma'am." Olive said. She looked so much like her mother, emerald eyes and corncob colored hair that was thick with curls.

"Well don't mind if I…" Octavius, Summer's old mentor from Signal reached for the plate. Summer smacked his hand.

"Children get them first." Summer scorned. Octavius gave a nervous smile to his former star pupil.

"Rubrum, honey." Ginger called out into the living room. Her six-year-old son was sitting on the floor reading a book by himself. "Come get a cookie." Rubrum shot up and made a B-line for the table. Ginger Snappes worked at a local dust shop and her husband, Rhubarb was the chief mechanic on the island.

"Let's go outside." Olive suggested to her friends, cookies in hand. "Mom, can you use your semblance to make piles of leaves?"

"Fine." Daisy huffed. "Just don't be horse playing." She walked outside to abuse her family's semblance for the amusement of her daughter.

Summer slipped another batch of cookies in the oven. She shot a glance at Yang who had just rushed outside to play. At least Tai remembered to have her put on her jacket this time. As soon as her hands were free, Tai slipped Ruby back into her arms. He cupped her cheek and kissed her dumb, smiling face. He parted their lips and leaned down to kiss Ruby on the forehead.

About an hour later, after everyone had their fill of Tai's BBQ and Summer's cookies, it was time for cake. They all sang Ruby happy birthday and Yang blew out her candles. Ruby didn't so much eat her piece, as she painted with it. After the cake was finished, Summer tried cleaning Ruby off. Ruby responded by using her caked hands to pull on her hair.

"Ow, Ruby, baby, stop pulling mommy's hair." Summer yelped as he pried the fingers off.

Everyone left shortly after that. Just as Summer thought, as soon as there were no more sweets, most of the people left. Yang went outside to run around with a stick she had found. Summer took the opportunity to wash her hair in the sink. That's when someone else walked in.

"Hey." The new arrival said. Summer's face lit up as she saw his beady red eyes.

"Howdy stranger." Summer said, slipping Tai the birthday girl. She walked over to Qrow and gave him a nice warm hug. Qrow wrapped his arms around her back, just like old times. Summer broke the hug. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

"It's been too damn long since I've seen you guys." He said.

"UNCLE QUO!" Yang wrapped herself around his leg. It had been over a month since she had seen her uncle.

"Hey firecracker." Qrow patted her on the head. Tai passed Summer the baby so he could give Qrow a brief bro-hug.

"Where have you been?" He said.

"About that…" He picked Yang up and started casually tossing her in the air. Summer hated when he did that. It made her heart skip multiple beats every time Yang started to descend. It was even worse when he purposely let her get close to the ground before catching her. She swore he did it just to make her and Tai mad. "I've been doing special missions for Ozpin lately, real top secret stuff."

"Are you going to tell us?" Tai asked.

"Sorry Tai." He held Yang up in the air. "Catch." He tossed her to her father making her laugh like crazy. "Can I have a minute with Summer?" He asked.

"If this is about the Argentware thing then…"

"Tai, it's more than that. Better off not knowing, and definitely better for Yang not to hear."

Summer had been slowly getting back into hunting since having Ruby. It was slow, especially since she wanted to breastfeed and be there full time to help Tai. Daisy was a great babysitter, but with the autumn season came harvest and the end of school and Summer was just, the only one who could afford to take time off. But when she did go on missions, especially the ones for Ozpin, they were always high risk.

Tai knew this much; he would oftentimes accompany her on these missions. Especially if they were just short weekend getaways or summer break missions. He knew that Summer was an Argentware, a now nearly extinct race of warriors who were the first to successfully fight the Grimm. She was the only one alive, well her and Ruby now. They had an effect on Grimm and could scare them off or even paralyze them with fear.

"So what's so important?" Summer asked dreading the answer.

"It actually doesn't have to do with the Argentware." Qrow swiped Ruby from Summer's arms and held her up. Summer took this chance to get him and her some drinks, she poured herself a glass of milk and got a cup of tea for Qrow, sense he hated milk.

"So then what is it?" Summer asked setting his glass down on the counter. Qrow held Ruby with one arm and used his other hand to pull out his flask and mix it into his tea.

"I saw Raven." Qrow said flatly.

"What?" Summer whispered. "Where? When? How is she?"

"She's fine. Turns out she hasn't changed as much as we feared. She's working for a different group. I don't know much about them except that they're called the Arbiters of Truth. Also apparently Octavia joined them around the same time."

"Arbiters? I've heard that name before."

"Ambrose Thurston was working for them when we met him at Nightingale." Qrow said darkly.

"I see." The memories were rushing back. The fire, the screams, so much destruction for the sake of destruction. Thurston had helped them stop it. But the death toll was still in the hundreds. It was the worse day of Summer's life and one she'd love to forget. "So she's still doing some good."

"Summer, remember what I told you, about the maidens?"

"Yes."

"Octavia is one of them."

"That explains a lot."

"During my last mission I went to West End. I was supposed to meet up with an informant named Nevermore, who had information about Octavia. Octavia had went missing a few weeks ago and Ozpin was desperate to find her. The Arbiters let us know they had a lead. Turns out, not only was that lead information that Octavia had officially left the Brotherhood to work for the Arbiters, but when I got there the person that delivered the news was definitely Raven."

"What did she say?"

"After telling me about Octavia she asked about you guys, made sure you were all still fighting the good fight. Then she just…disappeared. She opened up some kind of portal and vanished.

"So there's still hope for her." Summer said.

"What makes you say that?"

"If you didn't know you were meeting her, then she probably didn't know she was meeting you." Summer smiled. "Which means the first thing on her mind was the mission, to deliver that information. Meaning the second thing on her mind was her family…all of it."

"I don't know. I thought I did."

"You were her brother. But I was her best friend. I was our leader back then. I knew her on a level no one has." Summer remembered how she was the last person Raven spoke to before leaving on this mission. "Anyway, why are you telling me this?" Summer dreaded his answer. When Qrow told her about the maiden powers she had put two and two together. She was the maiden, the Spring Maiden, a maiden that hadn't been confirmed since the death of Acacia Glens. Summer wanted desperately to tell Qrow. But her parents had kept her mother's maidenhood a secret from everybody for a reason. She would continue that. If for no other reason than the fact she knew from Qrow's stories, that if Ozpin found out, she'd be uprooted. She'd be forced into a nomadic lifestyle. She'd be taken away from her family and her ancestral home.

"Because I have to tell someone." Qrow said. "You're my best friend. I trust you. I know you won't follow after her like Tai would."

Summer sighed in relief. She finished her milk and put it in the sink. So Ozpin still didn't know who the Spring Maiden was. He probably suspected. Luckily, all the legends surrounding the Argentware would muddle any maiden powers Summer displayed. If she did something crazy, no one would be able to tell where silver eyes end and maiden powers begin. It was the perfect alibi. And it was the only way to keep her family here and together.

"Well, you know me. If you ever need anything, someone to talk to, a place to crash, anything, the door is always open for you."

"It's not your door I want." Qrow said as he cradled Ruby. He looked at Summer with longing. Ruby made cute gargling noises as Qrow set her down. Ruby crawled around on the floor around his feet. Summer's heart went out for him but she loved Tai so much more. There was no place for him in that corner of her heart. He would just be her friend. She had hoped he would find someone else. The look on his face as his eyes trailed Ruby's crawling path betrayed him. He was still holding a torch for her. Ruby's mere existence was proof that it wasn't meant to be. Still, she could tell what Qrow wanted, he wanted Ruby to be his daughter, so that he and Summer could be together. It was a strange thought, and one Summer had been forming ever since she first told him she was pregnant.

But Ruby was a year old now. Summer had been with Tai for over a year. Whatever ship Qrow had planned had sunk and the one Summer was on with Tai set sail. To Yang and Ruby, he'd just be Uncle Qrow.

 **An: So much character stuff in this. This is slice of life at my finest. I've BSed my way through some subject matter, but childhood development is not one of them. So many returning characters, some were mere mentions from STRQ: Tales of the Old Huntsmen. Rubrum cameoing in this. All that explanation on the Argentware and maidens setting up what would be one of the main thrusts for RWBYond Vale. I love this chapter so much.**


	3. Chapter 3

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: Please review, follow and favorite for chapters every day. A little background on this story. STRQ: Tales of the Old Huntsmen, was supposed to be much longer. But I couldn't find a way to expand the Old Huntsmen stuff to match the STRQ stuff so I was going to add in a bunch of chapters with a character named Violet Rose. Then, after chapter 10 I nixed that, cut out roughly a third of the STRQ chapters and all the Violet chapters. Both sets are becoming their own entities, so many of the chapters here, were originally going to be in STRQ. This chapter, isn't one of them, I just had nothing to say.**

Chapter 3: Walk This Way

Summer was out on a mission and Tai was at work and it just so happened Qrow had gotten back from one. Ozpin had been encouraging him to spend more time with his nieces and take a break. He had been going almost non-stop since Raven abandoned them all. So this situation created a golden opportunity for some vacation time with the family. Only problem was, Yang was still three and Ruby was still one.

How Tai and Summer did it, he'd never know. This was agony. Yang was throwing a tantrum, Ruby was crying, Qrow was trying to calm them down, the phone was ringing, the cookies were burning and Qrow was realizing that this was his most challenging mission yet.

He scooped Ruby in his arms and rocked her back and forth. He decided to ignore Yang's screams for now. She had been set off when Ruby tried grabbing Yang's doll. Yang ripped it away from her, but the ever persistent one-year-old kept grabbing for it. She ended up pulling Yang's hair, big mistake. Yang screamed at her and hit her. Qrow had retaliated by taking the doll away as punishment which the toddler took offense to.

"Please stop crying." Qrow hissed to Ruby. She wouldn't stop no matter what he did and Yang's wails weren't making things any better. He set Ruby down on the counter and quickly ripped the cookies out of the oven. They were a little burnt, but a taste test proved they were still edible. He handed one to Ruby who seemed to quiet down at the sight of the sweet. She went to bight down, but her undeveloped teeth weren't able to break it.

"Mlah!" She started crying again when Yang let another scream out. Qrow ran over to her.

"You need to calm down or you're not getting any cookies." He threatened. Bribery, it was foolproof. She looked at him with red, tear stained eyes. He hair was glowing with raw power. She looked so much like Raven in that moment that it gave Qrow pause. "Your screaming…is making Ruby cry."

"So?" She smarted off crossing her arms.

"So, if you scream one more time, I'm telling your mom and dad." That struck a chord with her. Her mouth hung low.

"No, please don't tell daddy, he'll tell mommy then mommy won't make cookies."

"Well then you best calm down." He offered her a cookie.

"Eww, I don't want your gross burned cookies."

"Fine then." He took a bite out of it. "More for me and Ruby." He walked over and set Ruby back down on the floor. Ruby gnawed away at her cookie, making more of it onto the floor than in her stomach. After it was done she played around in the crumbs while Qrow cleaned it up. Ruby put her hands on the corner of the counter.

Tai had told him that Ruby was trying to walk. So far she couldn't manage more than a few steps before falling. She stood to her feet and looked at Qrow. He motioned for her to keep going and gave her a thumbs up.

"You're doing it Ruby, keep going." He said.

She got to her feet and let go of the corner. She waddled around in place trying to turn around. Qrow knelt down on his knee and reached for her. She took a few steps forward, then a few steps more until she was all the way within his grasp.

"Good girl." Qrow said. "Your mom and dad are going to be so proud of you." Speaking of which.

"Girls, I'm home." Tai said.

"Daddy!" Yang cheered as she ran towards him.

"Dada." Ruby chirped.

"Yes pumpkin." Tai said as he tossed Yang into the air and caught her. "Did Uncle Qrow behave himself?"

"Did I what?" Qrow said in offense.

"Nope, he made nasty cookies." Yang insulted. "He also let us listen to music with bad words in it."

"Traitor." Qrow accused.

"You did what?" Tai said.

"I didn't let them listen to it." Qrow said. "I listened to one song because it was on the radio. As for the kids, Yang still needs to apologize for hitting Ruby."

"Come again?" Tai asked.

"You said you wouldn't tell him!" Yang said.

"Sucks don't it." Qrow quipped. Yang stuck her tongue out at him and he stuck his tongue out at her.

"She's still three Qrow."

"I can't wait for her to be old enough to where you can't use that excuse with her."

"Now Yang, why did you hit Ruby?"

"She pulled my hair and took my doll." Yang answered.

"Yang, Ruby is younger than you. She just wanted to play with you. So you should apologize."

"Alright." She twisted around in his arms. "I'm sorry Ruby."

Ruby reached out for her.

"Yang." She said. Yang lit up. Ruby had only managed to say that word a few times and it was the first time Qrow had heard it come from her mouth.

"Here you go kid." Qrow set Ruby down on her feet. "She tried walking and actually pulled it off just before you got here."

"You're kidding me." Tai said. He knelt down and set Yang down. "Come here Ruby." Ruby got about half way and fell down. She picked herself back up and looked at Qrow. She wasn't crying. In fact, there was a look on her face Qrow didn't think was possible for someone so young. She had a look of fierce determination. She started walking back towards Qrow.

"Ha." Qrow laughed.

"No Ruby, come here." Tai ordered. Ruby looked back at her father. "That's right kiddo, come to daddy."

"Don't listen to him Ruby. You know you love me more."

"Qrow stop trying to make this a game."

"Games are a great way to learn though aren't they Mr. Teacher."

"This isn't a competition."

"Your right, you don't stand a chance."

Ruby kept on walking back and forth. Every once in a while, she'd fall and get back up. She kept easing closer to Qrow then Tai would say it angrily to make her go back towards him. Yang got in on it by going to a different part of the room. Ruby kept on spinning around on her little feet, confused as to who to go to. Then when someone else joined in, it was like all the other voices didn't even exist.

"Mama." Ruby ran towards Tai by the word.

"That's right." Tai said. "Come to…wait…come again." She rocked past him and into Summer's waiting arms.

"I guess I win." Summer said.

"Mommy!" Yang ran to her and gave her a hug.

"Summer…honey…I wasn't expecting you home so soon." Tai gave her a hug and a kiss. Qrow just avoided looking at them.

"What part of 'Flock of Nevermores' heading towards Lighthouse Academy sounded like it would take more than a day." Summer interjected as she zoomed Ruby around through the air. "Say, Qrow, didn't you go to Lighthouse?"

"Sure did." Qrow answered.

"So you know how good the school is."

"It's one of the best."

"Oh, hey, Blanche was there by the way." Summer said. "Can you believe he's got five kids now. I don't know how Iris does it."

"Helps that the Arcs are kind of loaded." Qrow said.

"I hope you're not wanting to try and catch up." Tai said. "I mean, I'm all for the first step but…" Summer elbowed him and gave him a look that would actually probably petrify a Grimm. "Um…the stork…yeah the stork is very expensive and busy." He gave a nervous smile.

"Yep." Summer said. "So Ruby, I saw you walking." She set her down. "Show mommy and walk with her." She grabbed Ruby's hand in hers and started walking. Yang, not wanting to be left out, grabbed her other hand.

"Mommy, do you remember when I started walking."

"Yes I do sweetie." They turned the corner into the hallway, likely heading for their rooms.

"You're lucky." Qrow said as he picked up Yang's discarded doll.

"Don't start the whole competition thing."

"I'm not talking about that." Qrow averted his gaze. "If I made that crack about the baby making process, she probably would have kicked me in the teeth."

"Nah." Tai waved him off. "She doesn't want to use violence in front of the kids. At least not violence towards family."

"There's only one family member of mine in this…"

"Oh don't even go there Qrow." He put a hand on his shoulder. "We are all family. If Summer hears you say otherwise, she'd probably slap you."

"I thought she wouldn't use violence."

"There's a fine line between abuse and discipline. Sometimes you still act like a bratty child, like you always have. Summer and I, we're parents now. We've had to grow up. You have too in your own way. But being a parent is understanding that line. I know for a fact, that Summer still sees you as that teenager we met at Beacon."

"That explains a lot."

"Like how you get along with the kids." Tai crossed his arms. Qrow hadn't thought about that. "You aren't an authority figure to them. You're the cool uncle. You're the one they go to when they want to do something Summer and I won't let them do. You're the one who plays with them and treats them out when you can. You're all fun and no discipline, that's why they like you so much."

"I guess you're right."

"And if you still don't feel a part of this family…then try explaining why Ruby wanted to walk to you when she fell and you made it a game. Everything I've seen indicates Ruby looking up to you, a lot more than Yang ever did."

"Good point." Qrow was forgetting he was a grown man in this conversation. He felt like he was being talked to by Ozpin back at Beacon again. "Anyway, so now that we're all here…what are we going to do for dinner?"

"Pizza sound good?"

"Who do you think you're asking?"

"Pizza sounds wonderful." Summer said coming around the corner with Ruby grabbing her hands in front of her.

"Pizza, pizza!" Yang cheered.

"Pizza it is." Tai said grabbing his scroll.

The pizza got there a half an hour later. Summer said grace before eating. She was thankful how they can all come together to enjoy this meal.

Qrow enjoyed his slices of pizza in almost silence as Tai and Summer told stories about their various activities. Summer was enthralled by Tai's story. But the kids, and Qrow, didn't really pay attention. They were however, hanging on the edge of their seats during Summer's harrowing tale. She was a natural born story teller. Ruby especially hung on every word her mother said.

 **An: Short of 2000 words I know, but this was supposed to be a short chapter just some slice of life stuff. Maybe give Qrow some development. Some word on the outline for this, the story is 25 chapters. The first ten are like this (and the two previous). The five after that form their own mini-arc surrounding Summer. The last ten are almost exclusively Ruby focused (with only two out of the last ten chapters being from someone else's perspective). I hope you enjoyed.**


	4. Chapter 4

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: This is just another cutesy slice of life chapter, this time dedicated to Yang. Sorry if this is too slow of a burn before the real deep dramatic stuff that comes later. I'm once again shooting for 2000 words, but it might not happen this time.**

Chapter 4: First Day of School

Yang was lying comfortably in her bed, wrapped up in blankets. Ruby was sleeping quietly on the other side of the room. Yang didn't mind sharing her room with Ruby, even if she was confused at why there was a whole room with a bed and dresser not being used. Summer had told her that the room for was whenever Qrow came around. But he wasn't always around, so why couldn't she get her own room? Oh well, at least Ruby didn't snore like Uncle Qrow did.

"Yang." Summer's voice called softly. The door opened up and the light came on. "Sweetie it's time to wake up." Summer walked over to her bed and shook her. Yang instinctually threw a punch but Summer was well trained in how to deal with Yang's wake up phase. She dodged the punch and started unwrapping Yang like a present.

"Go away." Yang groaned.

"Sorry honey, but you have to get up."

"Why?"

"It's your first day of school." Summer successfully unwrapped her face and stroked a piece of hair from her face.

"Do I have to?" Yang moaned.

"I'm afraid so." Summer kissed her forehead. There was a tear in her eye. "I don't want you to grow up either." She cuddled up next to Yang in her bed. "But you have to go to school to learn all the important things and meet new friends."

"I already know everyone who's going to be there." Yang reasoned.

"And they're all going to be there."

"Why doesn't Ruby have to get up?"

"Because she's not a big girl like you." Summer lifted her up out of bed. Yang planted her feet on the ground and went poddy. When she got back, Summer had already picked an outfit out. Summer helped her get dressed and ready. She brushed Yang's hair and put it in her pigtails. "I have muffins ready for you. But you can't have any until you brush your teeth."

"But mom."

"No buts." Summer raised a finger to silence her. "You have plenty of time and you need to do it." Yang fumed a bit as she walked off to the bathroom. When she got to the kitchen, Summer was waiting for her with Ruby in her arms. The three-year-old was rubbing her eyes awake while.

Yang grabbed a large banana nut muffin and started chowing down on it. Ruby grabbed one and followed suit from her seat. Summer sipped on her cup of coffee, her eyes burning holes in Yang's forehead. There was something sad and reserved about her expression. Yang wondered if she was upset about something. Had her and Dad gotten in a fight? Did she have some mission?

"Where's dad?" Yang asked.

"He had to leave for work early." Summer said as she finished her coffee. "It's his school's first day too."

"Can't I go there?" Yang protested. "Daddy will watch me and teach me." Summer laughed.

"Your dad is a great combat instructor and could be a descent English teacher if need be. But no, he can't teach you all the things your teacher will. But you will go to Signal eventually, when you're older. Then daddy can teach you." Yang sighed in defeat.

Summer made sure the girls were cleaned up and ready to go out. Ruby slept in the stroller on the way there. She was lucky. She was brought along because she had woken up on her own. Summer decided it would be a fun for the two of them to go to the park and go shopping while Yang was at school. Soon they arrived at Patch elementary, the only preliminary school on the island.

"Do I have to go?" Yang stomped her foot and pouted.

"Yes Yang, for the thousandth time you have to go to school." She knelt down and put a hand on Yang's shoulder. "Trust me, you'll love it, and someday you won't be able to imagine having ever lived life without it." There was a tear in her eye. "Then when you're big and strong you'll be done with school and living your own life." She gave Yang a big hug. "Every adventure starts with the first step and this is the first step for all of you."

"Don't cry mommy." She nestled her head into Summer's shoulder. "If me growing up makes you so sad…I can just stay young."

"I wish that were possible sweetie." Summer parted and gave her a kiss. "Now go and have some fun, I'll be here when school ends. Make sure to respect your teacher, make friends and please for the love of God don't get in any fights." She cupped Yang's cheeks and gave her another kiss. "See you in a few hours.

"Alright mommy." Yang walked in and found her room. She had already taken a tour of the building when her parents signed her up.

She was so bored sitting in there. At least the teacher tried to make things interesting. They played a game to get to know each other, but Patch was so tight nit that Yang already knew everyone, save for a few sheltered kids. She proved that she knew her ABCs she could count to a hundred, she could read a little bit and she could write her own name as well as plenty of other words.

Recess was the best part. Right after eating a sandwich for lunch, she was allowed to play outside. She played on the swings and the jungle gym along with her friends. They broke out in a game of tag. Yang won when she tagged her friend Star. Star face planted the ground in comedic fashion and Yang laughed. Star picked herself up looking all embarrassed. She looked ready to throw a punch but Yang was already running. Star was it when recess ended. She wouldn't talk to Yang for the rest of the day.

Towards the end of the day, Jam, the boy that sat behind her, pulled her hair. She screamed and spun around punching him. He fell back out of his chair with that one punch.

"Yang Xiao Long!" The teacher, Ms. G. said.

"He started it!" Yang shot out.

"I saw what he did." Ms. G. walked over to the kid. "I'll be having a talk with him next. I'll also be notifying your parents about this."

"No!" Yang cried. "Please don't tell them…I don't want them to be upset or I won't get cookies. I promised Mommy I wouldn't fight. You know how sad she'll be if she finds out I broke it."

"Perhaps you should have exorcized a little self-control." Ms. G. said. The bell rang and people started to get out f their seats. "But that'll have to wait. Go on home and tell Su…your mother. I'll expect her to come in and talk to me about your behavior tomorrow. If she doesn't, I'll be forced to tell her myself." She patted Yang on the head. "Now go on home."

School ended and Yang was still upset at Jam. He got it too good as far as she was concerned. Ms. G. was talking to him now but Yang could care less. Then it dawned on her that she would be back tomorrow, and the next day, and so many days for so many years. The thought infuriated her. So she stormed off to the front of the building where Summer and Ruby were waiting.

"Sissy." Ruby ran up and gave her a hug. "Sissy, what's wrong."

"Huh." Yang said confused.

"Did something happen?" Summer said grabbing her hand.

"Nothing happened." Yang was still confused.

"Your eyes are all red and scary." Ruby said. She gave a deep breath. "Did someone give you new eyes?"

"No, Ruby." Summer said. She now had both her daughters' hands in her own. "Yang's eyes turn red whenever she gets angry."

"Really?" Yang asked.

"Yes, it's been that way since you were born." Summer answered.

"Well I'm not mad…well…Jam pulled my hair."

"What?" Summer said.

"And I may have punched him." Yang saw the look on Summer's face sink. She felt so small in that moment.

"Thanks for telling me." Summer knelt down. "I'm sure he deserved it. I'll talk to your teacher tomorrow. Did you get punished?"

"Ms. G. said she's going to talk to his parents too. But no, she just talked to me and said to tell you or she would."

"That sounds like her alright." Summer leaned into her ear. "Can I tell you a secret, she was my teacher when I was your age. Sounds like she'd still rather have parents involved when children misbehave." Summer smiled at her. "See, now your eyes are back to lilac."

"Why do they do that anyway?" Yang asked. Summer bit her lip.

"I think it might be your power." Summer said. "We'll explain it someday, but you know how when mommy runs really fast she leaves little white petals?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well maybe your eyes glowing red are the same as that."

"That's lame."

"Yang, you haven't even begun to tap into your power, you have no idea what it is. All we can guess is that your eyes go red when you use it."

"I still don't get it."

"That's good!" summer shot out, she covered her mouth when she said it. "I mean, take your time. It'll happen eventually." Summer said. "Now let's go home."

 **An: And for those who read RWBYond Vale and picked up on why her eyes go red, and why the Branwens as a whole have red eyes, you'll know it's not exactly something to take lightly. I don't remember my first day at school, and I was never a trouble maker, so forming this chapter was a little hard. All I had to go on was some of the field work I've done for school, as well as movies and such. Please review, follow and favorite.**


	5. Chapter 5

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: Hey remember how this was supposed to be focused on Ruby? Well, the first four chapters didn't do a whole lot with her because she was less than four. Plus, with Ruby's origins you also have to do Yang's sense the two are so intertwined. Anyways, this chapter is pseudo-autobiographical, this exact thing happened to me on my fourth birthday. And like other chapters that I translate from my own life, obviously details are going to be different and specific to Remnant and Ruby.**

Chapter 5: Sick Ruby

Ruby tossed and turned in her bed. Her stomach felt all weird and her head felt hot. Her body was slowly being covered in a cold sweat. That's when the coughing started. She coughed lightly into her pillow. Then again. The cough had a weird echo in it and her chest hurt every time it happened.

That's when she started getting scared. She kept coughing and couldn't stop. She couldn't hardly breathe. Her eyes started welling up. She felt a pit in her stomach rise into her throat. The vomit hit the floor, part of her bed and on her pajamas. She shot up to try to make it in the bathroom but when she stood she felt dizzy. She couldn't walk or hardly move. The coughing kept on going.

"Mom!" She cried out. "Mommy!" Her screams were panicked and short of breathe.

"Uh." Yang tossed in her bed. The heavy sleeper was completely unaware of what was going on.

"Mommy!" Ruby screamed again in fear. The door opened and Summer stepped in. She turned on the light.

"What is it…" She paused as she saw the vomit on the floor.

"Help." Ruby said softly as she erupted into another coughing fit. Summer helped her into the bathroom and leaned her over the toilet as more vomit exited her mouth.

"Tai, honey, come here." Summer said. She put her hand on Ruby's head. "Oh God you're burning up." She got a thermometer out of the medicine cabinet and stuck it under Ruby's arm.

"Am I going to die?" Ruby groaned.

"No you're not. You're just sick." Summer rubbed Ruby's back. There was something soothing about her mother's hand on her back, and her face half way in a toilet bowl.

"Who's going to die?" Tai said.

"Ruby's sick." Summer said.

"Poor thing." Tai said. "Sucks that she's sick on her birthday." The thermometer beeped and Summer checked it.

"Tai, get my cloak and the keys to the truck." She said in restrained panic.

"What does it say?" She handed him the thermometer. "What!" He said without restrained panic. He ran out and a few seconds later he came back with Summer's hood and the keys.

"I'll take her." Summer said. "You stay here with Yang." She gave him a kiss.

"Where are we going Mommy?" Ruby asked.

"We're going to see the doctor so he can make you all better." Summer smiled to calm Ruby down. She picked her up and carried her out into the autumn air.

"This is insane." Tai said, following them out. "How did she get so sick?"

"I don't know." Summer said. She strapped Ruby into her booster seat and used some toilet paper to clean Ruby up.

The drive to the hospital was pretty quick. Patch wasn't exactly a metropolis, and if not for the emergency, they could have easily walked. That was really the only reason anyone had vehicles on the island. Everything was within a good walking distance of each other.

Summer carried Ruby into the lobby and checked her into the emergency room. After answering some questions, she took a seat with Ruby on her lap. Ruby was no longer throwing up, but she was still coughing her lungs out. The doctor was ready a few minutes later. They checked her temperature and looked at her sorrowfully.

"Did you give her any medicine?" The doctor asked.

"No, all I had on hand were cough drops."

"Good." The doctor said. "Nurse, get me a bucket of ice water."

"What are you going to do?" Summer asked.

"Ms. Rose, your daughter currently has a blood virus. We can help her but we need her to be able to swallow a pill. Can't do that if she keeps coughing like that. So, we need to abruptly bring her body into shock to stop her coughing. It'll also help cool down her body."

"Here you go." The nurse returned.

"Alright Ruby." Summer said. "Mommy needs you to dunk your head in the bucket."

"But I don't wanna." Ruby protested.

"Sweetie you have to."

"But there's ice in it."

"I know baby, but you need to do it to help you stop coughing."

"Are you sure?" Ruby wasn't convinced.

"Ms. Rose, if I may." The doctor said. "Ruby, if you do this, there's a candy bar waiting for you."

Ruby looked at the doctor and coughed. She looked at her mother, and saw how concerned she looked. She finally submitted and dipped her head into the ice bucket. It felt similar to having her head in the cool toilet, but multiplied by a thousand. She shot up, the coughing stopped as she gasped for breath.

"Now Ruby, can you swallow this?" The nurse gave her some medicine. It tasted like strawberry candy, so Ruby swallowed it with glee. The doctor took some of the ice from the bucket and wrapped it in a rag. He then held it up to Ruby's forehead.

"Hold this here." He instructed. He turned to Summer. "It's good you came here when you did. Her temperature was still rising. A half hour later and…" He gave pause to her thoughts.

"Thank God." Summer gasped in relief. "Do…do you have any idea what could have caused this?"

"Just a weak immune system I'm afraid. That's why we have the medicine on hand. We get cases like yours all the time. Though, this is the first time we've had to resort to using an ice bucket. Usually an ice pack would do the trick, but with how much she was coughing, we needed something a little…more."

"Thank you." Summer said. "Any advice?"

"Ruby will need her rest for a few days. She'll also need to take the medicine again tomorrow." He filled something out on his clipboard. "Take this to the pharmacy tomorrow, they'll have what you need."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Summer cried out.

"Please, I get paid a lot of money to do this. There's no need to thank me. I should be thanking you, Pride of Patch. Without you, we'd probably have all been gobbled up by the Grimm."

"Don't flatter me like that. Patch hasn't had a crisis in almost a hundred years." Summer noted.

"Still, having a top tier huntress so close…helps me sleep at night."

"Glad to be of service."

"As am I." The doctor checked Ruby's temperature again. "I guess we both hold people's lives in the balance…She's still running a fever, but it's not life threatening anymore."

"Thank God." Summer said again. She put her hands up in a silent prayer.

"You may go now." The doctor said. "If there's anything else you need…please, don't hesitate to ask."

"I won't." Ruby grabbed her mother's hand, her other one placed the ice pack on her head. "You're such a good girl."

"Mommy, when do I get my candy bar?" They walked through the lobby and waved to the receptionist.

"Ruby, you're still sick. You shouldn't have candy."

"But the doctor promised." Summer laughed.

"You have no idea how close I was to loosing you. Yet, you're more concerned about the candy bar."

"Doctor promised, he shouldn't break his promises."

"I'll get you a candy bar when you feel better." Summer said. She strapped Ruby back into the truck.

"But you would anyway. Doctor owes me."

"Ruby don't be difficult okay. Mommy has had a stressful night and Daddy's probably worried sick."

"Sick? Can we dump him in an ice bucket next?"

"You know what…" Summer gave her daughter a devious smile as she started up the truck. "That might not be such a bad idea."

They arrived back in and Tai was waiting just inside. Summer gave him a hug and whispered to him to tell him what happened. Ruby looked at the clock, she couldn't tell time on a clock yet, but the digital one said 4:30.

Ruby went to her room and climbed into her bed. She was getting really sleepy all of a sudden. She set the ice pack down and curled up with her blankets. They were different. Tai must have changed them while they were gone. Yang was still sleeping none the wiser. A few minutes later, her parents wlaked into the room.

"Hey Ruby." Tai said tucking her in. "I'm proud of you…mommy says you were really brave today for her." He kissed her forehead. "Happy birthday kiddo."

"I know it sucks being sick on your birthday." Summer gave her a kiss. "But you're a little trooper."

"Just like your mother." Ruby blushed at the compliment.

"Just know, that until you feel better, we're not going on any missions."

"But then you can't save people." Ruby protested. "Like the doctor said, you're a superhero."

"Yes we are, but I'd rather just be your hero." Summer said as she ran fingers through Ruby's hair.

"Me too." Tai said as he put his hands on Summer's shoulders.

"And Yang's?" Ruby asked.

"Of course." Summer said. "Good night." She gave Ruby one last kiss.

"Good night mommy."

"I love you." Summer said. "I love you so very much."

"I love you too."

"I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything." Tai said.

"Ok, I love you too daddy."

"I know sweetie; I love you too." He gave her a kiss goodnight. Then both her parents walked out of the room. Summer turned towards her bedroom, Ti turned towards the kitchen. Ruby shut her eyes and went right to sleep.

 **An: A little shorter than I thought. So yes, on my fourth birthday I was really sick, but I also had a breathing disorder that caused it, and they had to send my body into shock via ice bucket. I'm fuzzy on the details, thing happened damn near twenty years ago. But had my mom and dad not taken me to the emergency room, I probably could have died that night. I know I had a breather machine thingy for my condition, and the doctors told my mom after the fact that if she would have just used that then my heart would have exploded. So, because Ruby is a healthy baby, I changed it to some nondescript blood virus. Also, the bit about the candy bar, is the only thing I definitely remember about that night, I never got it. I hope you enjoyed. Please review, follow and favorite.**


	6. Chapter 6

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: One thing I wanted to ask before we get too far into this, how do you guys like my portrayal of Summer? Especially those who read my STRQ story, what do you guys think? Do I make her too perfect? It's hard because all we know about her is what we've been told, and the characters telling us obviously idolize her beyond reason. It makes her a weird character to write.**

Chapter 6: Sibling Rivalry

Tai sat on his front porch watching his two little girls playing in the yard. They were playing with some dolls and toy cars. Ruby was making little vroom sounds as her toy car skidded along the ground. Yang had a robot toy that, as far as Tai could tell, was trying to destroy the car.

"Ha, your car has been destroyed." Yang cheered.

"Nah-uh." Ruby protested. "My car is imdestcukable."

"There's no such thing."

"Is too."

"Is not." Yang stuck her tongue out at Ruby. Ruby retaliated by grabbing the robot for herself. "Give it back."

"No!" Ruby clutched the robot close to her chest.

"It's my robot."

"It's mine."

"No, it's mine!" Yang pushed Ruby to the ground and tried grabbing from the robot. "Give it back."

"No! It's my turn to play with the robot."

"No, it's my toy, my rules."

"But you always get to play with it."

"That's because it's mine!" Yang got on top of Ruby, who still refused to let go. Yang got a devious smile on her six-year-old face. She started tickling Ruby.

"No, Yang, stop, please." Ruby said between breaths.

"I will when you give me my robot."

"Never." Ruby was laughing. "Stop…Yang…I can't breathe." Ruby finally lamented, realizing she had been beat and Yang ripped the robot from her hand.

"I win again." Yang said holding the robot up in the air in victory.

"Meanie." Ruby threw a handful of dirt at Yang.

"Hey!" Yang shoved Ruby to the ground. The four-year-old hit her head and started crying.

"Yang Xiao Long." Tai stood up. Perhaps he waited too long to intervene.

"She started it." Yang crossed her arms.

"But you're the big sister." Tai helped Ruby off the ground and checked her head. Ruby was still crying and sniffling pathetically. "You shouldn't have acted out like that now apologize."

"Not until she does."

"Yang." He gave her a punishing stare. Yang stood defiantly. She looked so much like Raven in that moment that it made Tai's blood run cold. Thankfully it was just the eyes and the general facial features.

"No." She said flatly.

"Go to your room."

"Why should I…"

"Now." Tai said firmly. "We'll talk about this later." Yang stormed off. Tai kissed the bump on Ruby's forehead. But he didn't miss his youngest sticking her tongue out at his oldest. "And you." Tai turned his attention fully on Ruby, so much so he could feel her heart skip a beat. "You have plenty of toys of your own, and you know better than to throw dirt."

"I'm sorry daddy."

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to Yang."

"But she's a big meanie head." Ruby crossed her arms.

"That doesn't mean you should treat her any differently." Tai pinched the bridge of his nose. "We're family, and I know we all love each other. Yes, sometimes that means you fight sometimes but…"

"Like when you fight with mommy…or Uncle Qrow."

Tai and Summer didn't fight all that much. Summer was a people pleaser who was passive aggressive in a way that should be illegal. So when she would call out someone, they were in for a world of hurt. Usually it was little things that annoyed Summer, like the toilet seat being up or the house being dirty when she came back from a mission. Tai had just learned to count his blessings with her. Which is why every time she went on a mission for Ozpin, as the Argentware, he would protest. Those were the only times that they really fought. Summer put her duties as a huntress above all else. An argument could be made that motherhood was more important to her, with the fight against Grimm being a close second. But Tai wasn't so sure. And he definitely didn't like having fourth place in her heart, behind hunting and the two kids.

Qrow on the other hand brought it on himself. Unlike Summer, he didn't have some special trait that made him the only man for the job. He neglected his friends and family because he wanted to. When he did show up, he was a pretty good baby sitter. The girls enjoyed him a lot. He seemed to favor Ruby. Tai didn't know if that was because of his previous feelings for Summer, or him feeling abandoned by Raven and Yang being a constant reminder of that. It was probably both. The worst part was, he would usually be drunk, and swear and make lewd comments, just being a generally bad example for the girls. That's why they fought.

"Yes Ruby." Tai finally answered. "Just like we do." He stood back up. "Come on, you need to apologize for each other. As they walked into the house, Ruby decided to ask a question.

"Daddy, an uncle is a brother of a mommy or a daddy… right?"

"That's right." He decided to stop. He had been dreading this question, but he did have an answer, one that would satisfy Ruby at least. Yang on the other hand was getting old enough to question why she doesn't look like Summer, but doesn't look all that much like him either.

"Then who is Uncle Qrow a brother of?" Ruby pondered.

"Well…he's sort of an adopted brother…to both of us."

"Really?" Ruby said. "I didn't know Uncle Qrow was adopted."

"We were on a team together. A superhero huntsmen team. The best one at that."

"Wow." Ruby's eyes were wide.

"And after…things happened…we were the closest thing to family each other had." He put a hand on Ruby's head. "So for a while now it's been the three of us together. Then you and Yang came along and made it five."

"Huh." Ruby counted on her fingers to try to check his math. "So what about aunt Raven?"

"What?" Tai's heart sank. Thank goodness Yang was in her room, probably being all moody and brooding. "Who told you about Aunt Raven?"

"Mommy told us about her in one of her stories. Then Uncle Qrow told us about her. He said something about her being family too."

"Oh." Tai swore under his breath. "Well…Aunt Raven is…she's not around…and never will be. She doesn't want to be part of our family."

"How come?" Ruby looked at him sadly. He prayed that she wasn't able to see the tears welling in his eyes.

"I wish I knew Ruby…I wish I knew." That seemed to satisfy her. Bullet successfully dodged. They walked into Yang's room where she was hitting her four-foot-tall balloon Grimm with her boxing gloves. Her headphones were in and on full blast. Tai rubbed his brow. She was only six, yet she was acting twice that age.

"Yang." Ruby tugged on her shirt. Yang stopped and looked at her with anger. Her features softened up when she saw how sad Ruby looked. "I'm sorry I threw dirt at you. But…"

"No butts Ruby." Tai said. Ruby just stayed silent.

"I'm sorry I pushed you to the ground." Yang said. The sisters hugged and quickly kissed each other.

"Ok." Ruby shoved her backwards. "Let's be a team and play Heroes and Monsters."

"Who's the monster?" Yang asked.

"Umm…" Ruby put a finger to her lips. "Daddy." Yang smiled and tightened her gloves. Ruby grabbed her rubber sword from the pile of toys.

"Let's get him." Yang cheered. Tai quickly ran outside.

"Wee-ooh, wee-ooh." Ruby beeped. "We found a giant monster."

"We have to save the princess." Yang said.

"Wait, who's the princess?" Ruby asked.

"Beo." Yang said referring to the giant stuffed wolf Ruby slept with. Ruby nodded in agreement.

"Die monster." Ruby swung her sword at Tai but he caught it and skillfully picked her up. She yelped in joy at the sudden skyward movement.

"Let her go." Yang said, punching him in the back and butt as he ran away. Ruby hit him in the hand with her weapon and he set her down. She then swung at his legs. He dropped to his knees and grabbed Ruby's hands.

"You'll never stop me." Tai said.

"Daddy…monsters don't talk." She crossed her arms.

"This one does." He started tickling her.

"I'm going to stop you and save the princess." Ruby fought back.

"Not if I stop him first." Yang said, unleashing a surprisingly strong jab to his face. She was taking their play fights pretty seriously.

"No, I'm gonna be the hero."

"Don't I get a say?" Tai said.

"No!" The girls said together as they both hit him in the stomach. As the girls bickered over who was the hero and who was the side kick, Tai slipped over by the door.

"I'm going to kidnap the princess." Tai said.

"But Ruby, I'm older, I make the rules."

"Nuh-uh. I have the sword, that makes me the hero."

"A sword doesn't make you a hero. You have to be tough like daddy."

"You're too mean to be the hero. You have to be nice to save people."

"But you're still a baby. I'm the hero and you're the sidekick."

"I don't want to be the sidekick." Ruby pouted.

"I'm sure Princess Beo will be real scared." Tai tried cutting in.

"Well too bad. I'm bigger and stronger so I get to be the hero." Tai decided to try something different. He walked over and picked up both girls and they both yelped in surprise.

"While you two were arguing, I won. I gobbled up the princess and I ate the both of you."

"No fair, that's not the rules." Ruby protested.

"Well if you want to be heroes, you can't argue when you're fighting a monster. You have to work together to stop them." Tai said, channeling his inner teacher. Who knew this would be quite the learning experience for the kids. "Now you two have been fighting all day. So how about this. You two work together…and work on a way to trap Mom when she gets back from her mission tomorrow."

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered.

"But what if we get in trouble?"

"I'll say it was my idea. It's the truth after all."

"Yeah, and Mommy always says to tell the truth."

"Yes she does." Tai said longingly. "Now you two go on in and get cleaned up." He set them down. "I'll make dinner pretty soon."

 **An: A little game time between the dad and the daughters. As well as some clever pre-shadowing (a term I just made up to describe foreshadowing of events that occurred in a previous story that takes place later) for a certain set of subplots in RWBYond Vale. Thanks for reading. Please review, follow, favorite and stay classy.**


	7. Chapter 7

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: A few things, first, to the Guest Reviewer last chapter. That's not going to happen yet. Trust me, that thing is going to be in pretty high detail later in this story. In fact, that particular mission is going to play out over five chapters. Next, this is another short chapter. These more filler like moments are just cool little ideas I had for various interactions. Now, onto the actual chapter.**

Chapter 7: Baker of Cookies

Summer trudged up the path leading back home. Saying she was exhausted would be an understatement. It's not every mission that one would fight a leviathan. They were the largest and most deadly of Grimm. Their heads alone were the size of a goliath. But just when the leviathan had frozen under Summer's power and eviscerated by Tethys' attack…BOOM…a second leviathan. Thank God Tethys more or less specializes in fighting the serpents. And Summer got to finally meet his incorrigible nine-year-old boy.

But now Summer had her own six and four-year-old to get back to. She finally arrived and was a little puzzled at the lack of children in the front yard. They were probably inside watching TV. She looked forward to bouncing Ruby on her leg while Tai massaged her shoulders.

She opened the door. The second she stepped foot into the living room, her senses flared. She put her hand up just in time to stop the water balloon as it popped in her hand. Her eyes darted around the room. She was way too tired to deal with this kind of childishness. Then, Ruby spun from behind the couch with her water gun.

"Bang, Bang, Mommy." Ruby said as she squirted her mother. Summer took a second to register her now damp clothes.

"Oh no." She swooned and dropped to her knees. "Even…my legendary strength…was not enough to defeat…such…power." She fell to the ground. "Everything…getting…dark."

"Mom?" Ruby said. "It wasn't a real gun." The four-year-old walked over to her.

"Mom." Yang pouted. "You were supposed to stay standing until I came up and sneak attacked you from behind." Yang stepped over her body.

"Unbeknownst to quick-draw Ruby and fire-starter Yang…" Summer said in her reading voice. "Slippery Summer was only playing opossum." She shot up and grabbed both girls causing them to squeal and laugh in excitement. She started shaking them around as she crashed on the couch.

"I missed you mommy." Ruby said with a kiss.

"I missed you too baby girl." She rubbed her nose against Ruby's.

"Did they get you?" Tai said as he walked in with a cup of coffee ready for her.

"They got me good, mind reader." She grabbed the cup from his hand. "Let this be a lesson to you girls, if you ever want to hang out with boys, then they have to be boys who are willing to do what you want."

"Yuck, boys have cooties." Ruby said.

"What about your dad?" Summer mused.

"He's not a boy, silly Mommy." She sat across Summer's lap. "He's a Daddy."

"Yes he his." Summer looked deep into the eyes of her lover for a second. "And a good one at that."

"Ruby, give me room." Yang said with a push to her sister.

"Yang, be nice. There's plenty of me to go around." She kicked her boots off.

"So are we going to bake cookies?" Yang asked.

"Maybe later sweetie. But Mommy's real tired right now."

Tai took his cue to kneel down at her feet and give her a foot massage. Summer loved the feeling of his skilled and strong hands kneading the muscles of her foot. Ruby and Yang curled up in her arms and lap as if they had been out in the freezing cold and she was their only source of heat. And for just a second there, Summer thought about what would happen if she had another one.

"So how was your mission?" Tai asked.

"Yeah Mom, tell us about it." Yang said. Summer noticed Yang's hair was all messy and undone.

"I will some other time, definitely before I go off on another mission." Summer said. "But right now I don't want to think about my mission or a story. I just want to lay here and think about how much I love this couch, this coffee, this house, and this family."

"Awww, but I want to hear a story." Ruby pouted.

"I said I'll tell you it, but I need to prepare first. You can't rush into a story with no plan and expect it to turn out good…Tai."

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing." Summer smiled. She dropped her voice so that only her daughters could hear. "Just saying why you suck at telling stories." Yang and Ruby laughed.

"What is it now?"

"Nothing dear." Summer lied. "You're doing good by the way." She sighed in relief and closed her eyes as all the tension in her feet evaporated. Tai then focused on popping all her toes. "I'll give you girls a little preview though. Leviathans…plural."

"What!" Tai said shocked.

"Oh don't look at me like that, I had half the Azul family with me." Summer said. She then turned her attention to Yang. "Your hair is all messy." She pulled Yang more squarely on her lap. She grabbed the brush from the end table and started fixing it.

"It's not that messy."

"Yes, it is."

"So?"

"Oh Yang, you have the most beautiful hair in the world. Why do you keep messing it up?" She continued to brush it.

"I don't do it on purpose."

"I know, but when you're done playing you should always fix it. When it's all nice and brushed…I'm actually jealous of it. It's so smooth and fluffy. Not at all oily or dark like mine and Ruby's. You can't even tell that we're redheads unless you squint."

"Mom." Yang blushed and squirmed to herself.

"What about me?" Ruby said.

"What about you?" Yang stuck her tongue out.

"You're beautiful too." Summer said.

"Just like your mother." Tai came in for the save. "Both of you…" Tai bit his lip to stop himself.

"You, little miss sunshine, take after your dad's side of the family." Summer said. "Your dad's hair is just as smooth and soft as yours." Summer wasn't exactly lying. But Yang's was much better than Tai's. It has his gorgeous coloration. But the texture and consistency was strictly Raven.

Tai took a seat on the couch and grabbed Yang. Summer turned on the TV. They watched a kid's movie about a girl stuck in a bathhouse trying to get her parents back. Summer had seen the movie before, as had Yang, who was enjoying it a second time. Ruby was absolutely enthralled with it.

Yang and Ruby then talked about their last few days. They had played tag and played with friends. They had pizza and ice cream and went to the park. Every little mundane little chore or errand was like some big adventure. She wondered if she was like that, when she sat on her mother's lap.

"Anyway…" Summer said. "I'd better get dinner started. And then we can bake some cookies for desert."

"Yippee." Ruby cheered.

Summer wasn't in the mood to slave over a stove. So she just made the four of them Ramen. The meal went by quick. She was dreading what happened next. Why did she have to promise them cookies? Then she got a perfect idea.

"Yang, want to learn how to make cookies?" She asked. Yang's whole world lit up.

"Really?" She gasped. Summer nodded her head.

So Summer walked her through the steps in how to make a batch of cookies. Obviously, she didn't expect Yang to get it, which was why she would be there every step of the way. Baking really was an art, not a science. It took a decade of cooking side by side with Granny Glens in order to get as good as she was. And maybe it was the nostalgia talking, but she didn't consider herself as good as the old Matriarch of Patch.

The cookies turned out well enough. Summer was so proud of Yang, who just stood there with a big, dumb, toothy grin at her success. They ate their cookies and milk. Then Summer tucked them into bed and read them a fairy tale from one of the collections sitting on the bookshelf.

After they were tucked into bed, Summer jumped in the shower. It had been too long since she had a nice warm shower and just got to let the water soak into her skin. After washing and drying, she put on her robe. It had been a week since she's slept in her bed and she was ready to reap all the benefits. As she walked into her room, she saw one of those benefits. Oh, what a sight it was. Taiyang Xiao Long reading student papers by the lamp light. She held back a laugh.

"Ready for bed?" He asked. She flopped down next to him.

"Not quite yet." She scratched her bare thigh with one hand and poked his arm with her other. "What are you reading?"

"Just some English papers." He answered. "They are pretty hard to grade. Math is so much easier."

"I bet."

"So…you think something's going on with Yang?"

"Something's always going on with Yang. She's tough. She's different. And we love her for it."

"I know it's just…Ruby actually asked about Raven yesterday."

"Oh." Summer drifted her hand away.

"I think Yang overheard. Because all day today, she's been a little…off. Until you came home that is."

"Do you think we should tell her?" She turned to his side and stroked his thigh.

"No." Tai said. "I mean, we will when the time comes."

"Tai, I know you're scared." Summer leaned up and held his head close to her chest. "I'm scared too. I'm scared that when she finds out I'll lose her forever. I'm scared that if we wait too long, she'll use it against me when she's a teenager or an adult.

"Summer." He nuzzled into her chest causing her heart to be a firework of emotions. "You are their mother…no matter what. They better not forget that."

"You're right." She kissed his head. "We shouldn't be thinking about Raven in a time like this." She flipped over to lay on top of him. "Tai...I love you." She kissed his lips. She could feel him moan I love you into her mouth. In moments like these, more than any other moment, Summer knew, what she would do if Raven tried coming back into her life. They would fight. Summer would fight to keep Yang, but Tai, she'd fight even harder. She'd do her best to keep both. The fact that Ruby was his daughter made it easier. He was the lynch pin in their whole big stupid family. And he was hers. She'd prove it here and now. A little incentive never hurt anyone. Neither did a little extra insurance.

 **An: A little callback to chapter 44 of RWBYond Vale. So, I feel like there's a substantial lack of Qrow in this story. Which is more a thing with my foresight, since in RWBYond Vale, I had someone say that Qrow came around often, but wasn't a constant staple until after Summer was gone. So that's why he's not in these earlier chapters. Keep in mind, this will go 25 chapters with 5 of them dedicated to that one mission that's been glimpsed at in a couple of my stories. So the last 10 will be about Qrow and Ruby's relationship as much as these first ten are about Summer and Ruby. Please review, follow and favorite.**


	8. Chapter 8

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: So, if you didn't know, I put up a poll on my profile for who the best original villain in RWBYond Vale was. I'd like you all to take a few seconds and vote, if you read RWBYond Vale that is. Right now Akagi is in the lead which, actually surprises me. I was a little reluctant to even count her as a villain sense her whole character is just being abused by Tobi into being a killer. But she WAS the main antagonist for the best chunk of that story so, I put her as an option. Now onto the chapter.**

Chapter 8: Slayer of Giant Monsters

The sunlight barely hit the corner of Tai's eye to wake him up. Saturdays were the best. They were especially great when Summer was home. The last hull she brought in was enough to get at least a month off. Who knew two leviathans could fetch such a hefty price. So for now, it was the four of them. He and Yang would have school throughout the week, but it was a Saturday. So this would be the day they spent as a family.

He tried moving his left arm to no avail. All three of the girls in his life were currently using it as a pillow. Ruby was curled up into his arm pit with her leg dangling by his waistband. Yang was next to her. Her head was nestled into his elbow joint. Summer's head laid on his wrist. Her hand was draped across Yang's stomach. Yang's right arm dangled over it. Tai couldn't feel his left arm at all, let alone move it.

He used his right hand to pull it out from Summer's head. He then adjusted his body so that Ruby slipped onto the pillow under him. Yang was the hardest. He had to actually lift her head up, pull his arm out, and ease her down. All without having any sensation in his left arm. When he was finally free, he shook his arm to get the blood flowing again.

He looked at how adorable his family was. He saw Ruby squirm around grasping for the now missing source of warmth. Tai leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. She opened her eyes and Tai wondered if Summer looked this adorable as a kid. There weren't a lot of pictures from Summer's childhood around the house. Summer was apparently camera shy as a child, even in the pictures that were around, her face would usually be obscured in some way.

"Daddy?" Ruby squeaked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Good morning cupcake." Tai said. As she got up and plopped her tiny little feet on the floor, Summer began stirring awake. But Yang was still out like a log and refused to let the waking Summer move her arm.

Tai walked into the kitchen and took it upon himself to make breakfast. Sadly, anything that required any kind of care…and didn't involve a grill was a bit beyond his abilities. So he decided on waffles. By the time they were done, Ruby was sitting at the table clapping her hands together.

"Yay, waffles." She cheered.

"I'll go get your mom and sister." Tai said.

He walked back into the room and saw Summer with Yang. They were still laying down, even closer together now. Summer was cuddled up with Yang's face to her chest. She was holding onto his oldest tight, her eyes were squeezed closed. She was whimpering a silently to herself, but Tai could hear her in the dead quiet room. There were tears leaking from the slits of her eyes and both her hands were stroking Yang's hair. He walked over a gently rubbed a finger across her cheek.

"I…had a nightmare." She said.

"Want to talk about it?" Tai asked as he sat in the small space of bed behind her.

"I dreamt that Raven came back." Summer said. "That she took you and Yang from me."

"That'll never happen." Tai assured. "I love you. I would never leave you, or Ruby."

"Even if Yang wanted to?" Summer said. "I don't remember all of my dream. But I remember that Yang was the one that wanted to leave. That Raven didn't care if she came or not. She just showed up, Yang found out, and followed her. Then you left to be with Yang. And Ruby…" She squeezed Yang a little tighter. "I don't actually remember." She let up a bit so she could sit up.

"It'll never happen." Tai said. "Even if Raven magically grew a conscience and came for her, YOU not her, are the one that raised Yang. You're the one who sang her songs, played with her, cooked for her, changed her diapers, took her to the doctors, helped her with homework, let her sleep with us when she had nightmares. You are the one that loved her more than I've seen anyone love a child." That seemed to cheer her up. "I made waffles so get her up."

"Yang." She shook her. "Yang, sunshine…there's waffles ready."

"Urngh." Yang moaned as she threw a punch at Summer's face. Summer dodged it and it hit Tai in the arm.

"Man she packs a punch."

"It's all those boxing lessons you've given her." Summer mused. "She's going to be quite the brawler…just like her daddy."

"I just hope I don't have to threaten all the boys that will be chasing her."

"Will?" Summer said. "Tai, she's had boys flirting with her ever since she first went to school."

"I refuse to accept that as a reality."

"I know. But we'll have to get used to it someday." Summer said. "Thank God Ruby takes after me. So hopefully she won't be boy crazy until it's actually a good thing to take interest in guys."

"So like, when she's thirty…right?"

"I was thinking more like when she's at Beacon." Summer said. Even though she was four years old, Ruby had already become outspoken about her dreams of being a superhero just like her mom.

"Yang, time to wake up." He shook her this time, trying to change the subject. He didn't want his kids to grow up. He wished that they could all stay like this forever.

"I don't wanna." Yang protested.

"There's waffles." Tai said. Yang shot up and rolled off the bed into the kitchen. Summer and Tai followed her to see the two sisters now stuffing their faces with the food. Tai and Summer got their own plates and began eating.

"Ruby!" Summer said. "That is way too much syrup." She walked over and scooped some off Ruby's waffles and onto her own. Tai laughed at how much syrup was on Ruby's body and he nearly keeled over at how much care Summer took in cleaning her off.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. They played some video games, watched TV, played a game of heroes and monsters outside. This time, Summer and Ruby were both heroes while Tai and Yang were the monsters. Tai and Summer took turns teaming up with the girls on various sides. But Summer and Ruby as the heroes had the highest score, which Yang was adamant about keeping until Ruby kept winning.

Tai knew this was another day he would appreciate. Days like this were the best in his life. He wouldn't trade any days like this for the world. But he knew it wouldn't last forever. It seemed like just last week, Ruby was still a helpless newborn who couldn't even eat solid food. Now she was running and jumping and playing with a stick in her hand and pretending it was a sword.

Eventually, Ruby and Yang were exhausted and ready for bed. So Summer got a bath ready for Ruby first. While she helped Ruby in the bath, Tai hung out and read with Yang. Then when Ruby was done and in bed, Yang jumped in. This gave Summer and Tai precious alone time. Summer knew that as soon as Yang was out, she'd have to go into their room to read to them.

"Wow." Summer said as she sat next to him on the couch. "I don't know how you keep up with them when I'm away."

"They…actually aren't this full of energy when it's just us three."

"Really?"

"Summer, you're their favorite person in the world. The only other person they get this excited around is Qrow and…well…that's probably because he lets them get away with a lot more stuff."

"Oh, Qrow…reaping all the fun parts of being a parent without any of the real responsibilities." Summer spun onto his lap and kissed him. "I had a lot of fun today."

"I did too." Tai kissed the base of her neck.

"So…when the girls are in bed…" She gave a seductive smile, or at least what passed for seductive for Summer's goofy smile. "Do you…umm…" Her face went red and she hid her face into the crook of his neck.

"It has been over four years and you still get embarrassed talking about it." Tai laughed. He answered the question in her mind with a sensual rub of her back. She sighed at the touch and melted into him. Then she lifted herself up and washed away into a kiss.

"Eww gross." Yang said wrapped in a towel. Summer smiled at her.

"I think I'm glad she thinks it's gross." Tai whispered to her. She got up and walked over to Yang. Tai sighed in defeat. It was so hard for he and Summer to have moments like that with two affectionate kids running around.

Tai walked into the girls' room and saw Summer propped up in a chair with the lamp on. Ruby and Yang were tucked into their respective beds, both looking at her in anticipation for her story. Tai decided to lean up against the wall to see how she did it.

"Tonight…I'm going to tell you about my last mission." She started. "It all started when I got on the airship to Beacon Academy." The story wasn't really anything special as far as Tai could tell. She met up with a couple other huntsmen that were transporting dust from Vytal to Sanctum. She did go into great detail to describe how ferocious the Grimm of the sea were and how she and the others fought two leviathans.

Both the girls were in awe the entire time. Summer got up and did the motions with her hands and body. She even had Tai help her demonstrate. She changed her voice to show the different ways people talked. She made funny sound effects when describing the sounds of battle. And when it was all over, she gave a little bow and wrapped it up about how she got to return home to her reason to keep fighting.

"Wow." Yang said. "I hope to have an adventure like that someday."

"I wonder if I'll see a leviathan someday." Ruby said. "One day, I'm going to be big and strong like you mommy."

"I know you will." Summer said. "You both will. Maybe one day you'll even be better than me."

"Better than you?" Ruby looked so confused and Yang looked astonished.

"That's right. You are my children after all."

"Then I can make even more people live happily ever after." Ruby said. So naïve.

"That's right sweetheart." She gave Ruby a kiss goodnight. "Maybe when you're older we can save the world together." Ruby blushed. "Of course daddy and Yang will be with us too."

"And Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked.

"And Uncle Qrow." Summer confirmed. "Good night." She walked over to Yang and kissed her goodnight. Tai followed suit. Then he followed Summer out of the bedroom and into their room.

 **An: We're coming close to the end of the 'happy family' chapters. We have two more after this, and both are going to have Qrow playing a role for once. Then the real story begins. If you haven't already, read RWBYond Vale. Because there's going to be a massive tone shift that will make more sense if you've read RWBYond Vale. Please review, follow and favorite.**


	9. Chapter 9

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: Alright, so this is a little later than what I would want, but I have class so I'm not posting in the dead of the night for a while. I also recently became an admin for a new OC RP group. So that's eating up some time.**

Chapter 9: Game Time

Qrow had just arrived at the house on Patch. It felt good to be at the closest place he had to a home. He took a drink from his flask as he pushed away the memories of his last mission. Not that they were bad per se, he just wanted to distance himself from the convoluted bull of the maidens. The new Fall Maiden was a brat. It had been the Fall Maiden for less than a year, so her lack of progress was understandable. But the way she just tried lashing out with her powers was so amateurish, Qrow had to wonder why Salt Azul would ever choose her. Especially with plenty of promising girls, even right in her own family.

But Salt didn't want it to stay in her family. So she passed it to the daughter of a ranger in Mistral. Qrow didn't understand the logic behind that. And Amber had become really entitled upon discovering her role in the world. But at least she was easy to find, which is more than he could say about the Spring Maiden, who had been elusive for over fifty years. Qrow had his suspicions, and Ozpin did too. But if Summer Rose was indeed a maiden, she wasn't showing it. She hadn't embraced the role. Qrow knew her well enough, she jumped headlong into battle at every chance. If she was the Spring Maiden, she would have said something…right? Maybe she didn't know. Which would mean all the amazing stuff she did was thanks to her Argentware blood. Ozpin wasn't sure, so there was no way Qrow could ever be sure. Not unless Summer's eyes erupted in that emerald light.

He stood there by the door. He could hear the sound of music inside. He raised his hand to knock but hesitated. According to the Patch mission boards, Summer was leaving on another short assignment. The mission was in Forever Fall. So it would probably be a quick and easy mission. Then, the two of them were also both signed up to be shadowed in Vacuo for the Vytal Festival.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby cheered as he entered the home. She jumped into his arms.

"You're getting big pipsqueak." He said.

"Thank goodness you're here." Tai said. "Ruby's been all moody today because Summer left."

"I bet." He turned his focus to Ruby. "You're not causing trouble for your pops are you kid?"

"No." She averted his gaze.

"That would be a yes." Tai said.

"But it's all better now because you're here." Ruby smiled.

"Appreciate it kid." He set her down and rubbed her head causing her to blush. "How about you Yang?"

"I'm fine." Yang said as she kept doodling in her notebook.

"Of course you are." Qrow said. "Easy to not have a care in the world when you…"

"Qrow." Tai hissed. Qrow hadn't realized he was talking out loud.

"Uncle Qrow…can we play a game?" Ruby asked as she kicked the floor a little bit with her hands behind her back.

"Sure what do you want to play?" Qrow sat down on the couch as she dug through her games.

"This one." She held up a game called Gauntlet.

"Sounds good." He had played the game before. It was a co-op game.

"Can I play too?" Yang asked as she plopped down.

"It's four-player." Qrow said. "Tai…you want in on this action."

"Um…sure." Tai took a seat on the couch. Ruby squirmed over Yang so that she could be by Qrow. They fired up the game and distributed the controllers.

"I'm picking the Wizard." Qrow said. "Ruby, you're next."

"I'll take the archer." Ruby said. "I like his bow."

"I'll take the Valkyrie." Yang said.

"That leaves me with the warrior." Tai said happily. "Now, how do I play."

"You just run around hitting this button to attack." Yang said. "This is block. This is your special."

They started the game and after a brief cut scene, they were playing. Qrow led the way as they encountered their first monsters. Qrow blasted them away while Yang and Tai killed them. Ruby just stood back spamming her attack button.

"I've never played with four people before." Yang said.

"So many Grimm." Ruby noted. They played for half an hour before finishing the first level. When they got to the second level they started being overwhelmed.

"Ruby, stay back." Yang said.

"You're not as good up close." Qrow said.

"Aww." Ruby said disappointedly. Her character dropped to the ground.

"Ruby!" Yang said. "I've got you." She picked Ruby's character up with a healing potion. Qrow cleared the path for them. Tai went down.

"Wait, what's going on…am I dead." Tai said.

"I've got you." Qrow healed him up while Yang and Ruby covered him.

This game was really hard. It didn't help that Ruby didn't really know how to play, Yang wasn't the best either, and Tai wasn't much for hack and slash type games. Qrow was the only one that knew what he was doing. And this game was way too hard to win on his own. Eventually, everyone was dead and there was nothing he could do.

"No." Ruby said in defeat.

"Damn." Qrow said. Tai gave him a look.

"Ooooooh." Ruby said. "Uncle Qrow said a bad word." She held out that last syllable.

"Whatever. You'll be able to say words like that when you're older."

"Like as old as you?" Yang said. "That's ancient."

"Hey, I am not old." Qrow said. "I'm the same age as your parents."

"That's even worse." Ruby whispered.

"Don't make fun of your elders." Tai said. "It's bad luck."

"I don't need luck." Yang said.

"Which is why your player died too." Qrow quipped.

Yang shut up after that. The way she pouted it…actually reminded him of the first time he beat up Tai in Ultimate Ninja Fighter. In fact, right now she looked more like her father than her mother…her birth mother that is.

This is why Qrow was so reluctant to be around here for so long. His thoughts always returned to Raven and whatever the hell her little band of misfits was up to. Ozpin was pretty tight lipped about the Arbiters. He wouldn't even tell Qrow the leader's name or what he was all about. Qrow had asked around, and only Glynda had ever even heard of the group. And she knew less than he did.

"Let's play a different game." Ruby suggested.

"We can take turns on Ultimate Ninja Warrior 3." Qrow suggested.

"No." Tai said. He and Yang both had their arms crossed and held themselves the exact same way. She was like his mini me. Ruby just looked at the three of them with utter curiosity.

"Why not?" Ruby asked.

"Your old man and sister are just jealous of my ninja skills." Qrow whispered to her.

"Hmm." Ruby said. "How about…Uno."

"Yeah, Uno." Yang said with a fist bump.

Hours later, what was planned as a cordial visit turned into a massive family game night. Qrow taught Ruby and Yang how to play chess, which they didn't really get. They taught him how to play Go Fish, even though he actually knew how to play, but he played dumb for their amusement. They also played cards with no regards for the fun part of cards because Tai didn't want them gambling. Then, they played twister in the living room. Tai won hands down.

By the time it was all over, Qrow realized just how fast time flew with these girls. He hadn't even had a chance to think about the maidens or Summer or Raven and the arbiters all day. Everything was in the moment with little regard to the future. Qrow was fine with Yang being that way; the more she found out about her heritage, the worst it would probably be for her. As for Ruby, she already had a vision for what she wanted to be. She wanted to be a hero like the one in the book she made Qrow read to her. She hadn't quite made the connection between heroes and huntsmen, as none of these stories used that term for their heroes. Qrow wondered if that was a good thing. Not every huntsman was a hero. Not every huntsman was good. So Qrow hoped that her dream wouldn't change, no matter how it decided to manifest itself.

 **An: Another shorter chapter. I could have made it longer, like way longer. But I need to get to bed so that I can actually post this on my way to class when I get up in the morning. So the next batch of chapters are going to have this release time until I can't actually do it anymore. Please Review, follow, favorite and stay classy.**


	10. Chapter 10

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: So this is the last of the happy slice of life chapters in this. The next five after this is one five-chapter arc and then a differently toned slice of life story for the last ten chapters. I can't wait to get this story done and get started on RWBYond War.**

Chapter 10: Happy Vytal Festival

Yang sat on her father's lap and watched the pre-tournament coverage. It was good to have everyone home. It had been so long since all five of them were in the house at the same time. Whether Qrow and Summer, or Summer and Tai, or just any one of them, it seemed like they were always on missions. But now was different. Right now they were all watching the festivities of the Vytal Festival.

Ruby was bouncing on Qrow's lap in a chair. Summer was sewing away at the cape she was making for Ruby's fifth birthday that was coming up. On the other side of the couch, Yang sat at her father's feet. When the fight started Tai started watching in feigned interest. Qrow looked like he could care less. Ruby squealed with excitement and jumped down from his lap so she could go face first against the TV.

"Ruby sit back." Tai said. "You'll ruin your eyes."

"Wouldn't want that to happen." Qrow said.

The fight was between a team from Shade, the hosts of this year's Vytal Festival, and a team from Atlas, the least liked school right now. Everyone was cheering for Shade. Not many people put a lot of emotional stock into the tournament. It was something that people just stopped doing after the Mountain Glenn crisis decades ago. So now people had learned to control their emotions during the game.

"Wow!" Ruby said gawking at one of the Shade fighter's weapon. "How is it doing that?" She looked back at Qrow.

"Hmm…Headmaster Null Mu told me about him when I was in Vacuo." Qrow said. "I'm not sure how it happens. But I know Jade's put a lot of stock in him."

"Yeah, this is a good fight." Tai said. "This is better than a lot of other team battles of the last few tournaments."

"Please this fight is still a mess." Qrow took a drink from his flask. "All the sportsmanship rules they've put in has sucked all the energy out of team fights."

"I feel like we're to blame about that." Tai said. "I mean; they did implement a lot of the rules after our stab at the tournament."

"You fought in the Vytal Tournament?" Ruby asked.

"Of course we did." Tai said. "We won too." Ruby's eyes went wide at the revelation.

"It was actually our teammate." Qrow said. "The one who's not here."

"Aunt Raven?" Yang asked.

"Yeah…Aunt Raven." Qrow narrowed his eyes and took another drink of his flask.

"That's so awesome." Ruby said. "I wonder when I'll meet her." She looked to her mother for an answer.

"Who knows?" Summer said as she set down the cloth.

At that moment everyone's attention was brought back to the fight. It ended in spectacular fashion as the Vacuo kid knocked out the last two Atlas fighters with a swing of his staff. The announcers concurred and the crowd at Amity went nuts.

"Good fight." Tai said.

"It was still a mess." Qrow said. "The real world doesn't wait for you to react before playing its next move."

"You're no fun."

"You're grading them compared to the kids at Signal." Qrow took another sip. "Still, it was cathartic to see Atlas humiliated like that."

"Come now Qrow." Summer said. "Atlas isn't as bad as it was a few years ago. I think James has done a fine job since he took over five years ago."

"I've talked with Jimmy a lot more than you have." Qrow said. "He's a bull headed, reactionary buffoon."

"But look at who he replaced. Lorimar Hellsing was the worst person to ever have the title of headmaster."

"At least we knew where we stood with him."

"He literally let Mordred Draco get away from murder!" Summer raised her voice. "No matter what he does, James has the people's interest at heart. That puts him miles ahead of Lorimar."

"Enough with the politics." Tai said. "They're interviewing that Shade kid."

"Mr. Striter, you come here as a Faunas and as a leader, what does it mean to you that you managed to pull out such a victory against Atlas?" The reporter asked.

"Well, the first thing we have to remember is that no matter what happens here, we're all brothers in arms. We're all in the fight against the Grimm together. Those Atlas guts, they were tough, we were tougher, that's why we won. But after we go home here, we're all going to be working together and become huntsmen together. That's all that matters. It's not about who's stronger than who; it's about showing the people that we are all strong, and that we can fight a little bit without having anykind of ill will."

"Those are wise words for someone so young." The reporter noted.

"Well, I spent the majority of my life with a wise man." Felix said.

"Sadly that's all the time we have. Hope to see more of you in the future rounds."

"You can bet on it."

"He's so cool." Ruby swooned. "And his weapon…I want it so bad."

"You'll have your own weapon someday." Summer said.

"I know." She walked over to her mother and tried climbing up her leg.

"Sweetie, I'm trying to make you your present." Summer said.

"I want to wear it now." Ruby said.

"Ruby, let's go get some jelly beans while we ait for the next match." Yang said.

"Yay!" Ruby cheered.

Yang led Ruby into the kitchen to grab the bag of jelly beans on the counter. She and Ruby both took a handful and started stuffing their faces. They both made giggling noises as they inhaled the sweets. Eventually they heard the next match was coming on so they ran into the living room and reclaimed their positions.

"Ruby, you have something on your face." Summer said.

"I've got it." Qrow took a tissue and wiped the drool from her face.

"Thank you Qrow." Summer said.

"Anytime Summer." He returned.

"Ruby, what do you say to your uncle?"

"Can I see your weapon?" Ruby said innocently.

"No, not that, what do you say to people who help you?" Summer led her on.

"Um…thank you Uncle Qrow."

"Your welcome kid." He rubbed her hair.

"I love you." She gave him a hug.

"I…me too." Qrow rubbed her back for a second until she parted the hug. Yang looked over to Summer who looked like she was going to die of cuteness overload. So much so, she set her knitting equipment down and motioned for Ruby to come to her.

"Come here Ruby." Ruby looked at Qrow for confirmation. After Qrow nodded she ran over to Summer. "Oh my precious adorable baby girl." Summer said through her teeth as she rocked her back and forth while tickling her.

"What about me?" Yang moved closer to Summer.

"You're my little firecracker." Summer picked her up and held both girls close. "You two are the most important things in my world." She held Yang up a little higher. "You came into my life at a dark time to light up my life ever since." She held Ruby up. "And you are my reason to keep getting better. You remind me every day of why I get out of bed and fight monsters. You came in and made everything from good into better." She kissed them both on the cheek. Yang couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Sure, lightning up her mother's life is cool and all, but she always seemed happier when Ruby did something good. Maybe it was just the age thing. Anything Ruby did, Yang had already been doing for two years. So, maybe she just didn't remember Summer acting like that. Still, she had used that line on Yang countless times before. Yang never even thought to ask what was so bad before she was born. Too bad her seven-year-old mind didn't have the attention span required to ever ask that question.

"Happy Vytal Festival." Tai said as he kissed the three of them.

"Happy Vytal Festival they all said."

 **An: Another chapter done. Man, yesterday this story and my profile sky rocketed in views. I like this release schedule, except the fact that I have to wake up early to post it. Be sure to review, follow and favorite.**


	11. Chapter 11

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: So it begins, what I am calling the scatter arc. I know many of you have been waiting for this moment since this story began. The next five chapters spell out the most important mission in Summer's life. This is going to be interesting.**

Chapter 11: It's Like Chess but for Keeps

Summer had always thought that Tai was a warm person. There was need for no evidence other than how she felt wrapped up in his arms as she woke up this winter morning. Ruby and Yang were standing at the foot of the bed shaking their parents' feet.

"Mom, Dad, it snowed, it snowed!" Yang cheered.

"Yay for snow!" Ruby said as she twirled the cape that Summer had made her for her fifth birthday.

"Can we go out and play?" Yang asked. Summer stirred herself to look out the window. The ground was covered in a blemish free layer of stark ice.

"Let me get up first." Summer said. "You two get some breakfast…and make sure you brush your teeth."

"Ok, mom." Yang said as she led Ruby out of the room. Summer got dressed and walked into the kitchen where she made herself a cup of coffee. After that, she helped Yang and Ruby into their winter clothes and unleashed them upon the perfectly frosted yard.

The two girls instantly ran around making foot prints and snow angels. Yang of course, was the first one to throw a snowball at Ruby. Summer resisted the urge to run out there and cradle Ruby. Her mood was relieved when Ruby got up, smiled, and retaliated.

Summer walked around the living room to watch the children play from the window. That was when she spotted the envelope. It was sitting there, neatly on the sofa right where Summer would usually sit. It wasn't marked with a date or an address. The stamp that sealed the envelope was in the form of some kind of glyph. The only writing on it said, "For Your Eyes Only- Nevermore." Summer decided to open it and look inside. There was a small read piece of paper that said:

"Have you paid your respects to your ancestors lately?

They say those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

That's why the Wizard still can't burn the Witch.

And why the King of Beats can only be slain by

The Argentware.

-Agent Orange."

Summer's heart skipped a beat as she read the name held by her ancestors. Argentware, the people who first successfully combated the Grimm. She and Ruby were the last ones left of that legendary race of hunters. But who could this be from. Who was Nevermore? Who was Agent Orange? What did it mean by Wizard and Witch?

Summer examined the words again. It asked if she had paid her respects to her ancestors lately. In truth she hadn't. She knew where the tomb of the Argentware was. It was underneath the old barn house on the northern edge of the island. She hadn't gone up there since she caught Raven and Tai up there when they were still dating. To be truthful, she was scarred. It was where her parents' weapons and cloaks had been found tattered.

It wasn't until the tird look that she saw, just barely visible there was a symbol. Summer's eyes traced it. It was a shade lighter than the rest of the paper. It was also made more difficult to see thanks to the words. But Summer was able to make it out.

"Raven." She gasped as her hand went to her mouth. She looked around for any other sign of her friend. She looked outside and watched Yang, keeping careful inventory on any birds in the area. She didn't see anything. But she knew she had to investigate. So over the next few hours, she psyched herself up.

After about two hours the girls were back inside having had their fill of the cold snow for a while. Summer had some hot cocoa waiting for them when they got inside. Tai had gotten up as well. She didn't tell him about the letter, there was no need to get his hopes up.

"Do you want to build a snowman?" Ruby asked Yang.

"Ruby, we just got back inside."

"Not now, but later." Ruby twirled a lock of her hair.

"That's a great idea." Tai said. "I'll even help."

"Yay!" Ruby said. "Mommy, you help too?"

"Sorry sweetie." Summer said. "I have to run into town for something."

"What for?" Tai asked.

"I got a call…I don't know what it's for." She said. "I'll be back in a few hours ok?"

"Sure, I'll watch the girls." Tai said.

Summer was glad they bought the excuse. Although, she prayed they didn't investigate further. The truth was, she was going about as far from town as possible. She passed the Cliffside where Tai had proposed to her. Even if they never had a full blown wedding, they were married. It was important to him that they keep up that standard for their girls.

As soon as she stepped within eyesight of the barn house she was overcome with an emptiness and sadness. So many brave men and women had lost their lives here all those years ago. So many people had disappeared from here since. The local legend was that the place was haunted. But Summer knew better. This place was a natural fuel source for Grimm.

Luckily, Summer had brought her weapon. She made quick work of the Grimm that attacked her as she made her way closer to the barn house. When she finally stepped forth into the structure, she was washed up in an intoxicating feeling. Fear engulfed her, but it wasn't hers. There was something beneath her. Something inside the well that led to the tomb. It was, something, and whatever it was, it was scarred.

Summer eased closer to the well. Maybe this thing wasn't scarred. But it was active. She could hear it slipping around the walls of the caverns below. She grabbed her weapon, ready to jump down there and confront whatever it was and fight it. Then a raven's caw broke her attention towards a collapsed pillar.

"Awfully jumpy aren't we Summer?" The masked woman said. Even though Summer couldn't see her face, there was only one woman with hair that beautiful.

"Raven?" She said. Raven removed her mask.

"It's good to see you again old friend." She said. "I bet you have a lot of…" Summer smacked her across the face and then proceeded to try crushing her in an embrace.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Summer pushed her face into Raven's shoulder. "Where have you been?"

"All over." Raven pushed her back.

"Raven…what's with the mask? Why are we here? Why are you here?"

"The mask is something like a uniform for the group I'm in. I am here to talk to you. We are here because what I've got to say involves the fate of Remnant."

"What are you talking about?"

"Perhaps I should start at the beginning?" Raven said. "Have you ever heard of the term Grimoire?"

"Should I have?"

"Yes and no." Raven put her hand to her forehead. "If Ozpin wasn't such a bull headed, egotistical, self-righteous buffoon he would have told you years ago. Basically…well…there's Grimm that can talk."

"What?" Summer was a little confused. Granted, she never heard of Grimoire. But you would think Grimm being able to talk would be a bigger deal.

"I…look, I can't explain everything. But I am a member of an ancient order called the Arbiters of Truth. We do…many things. One of them is keep these Grimoire in check. Right now, the biggest and most powerful of the Grimoire is returning. And only someone with Silver Eyes can seal him back away."

"So you need my help to defeat this…master Grimoire?"

"He's called King…and yes." Raven answered. "Listen, come back here tomorrow. I'll be here waiting. But you can't tell anyone about this. Not even Tai." Summer nodded her head.

"Yang's fine by the way." Summer said.

"I didn't ask." Raven said as she put the mask back on. "She's your daughter. More than that she's Tai's daughter and Tai is your husband. I knew she'd be alright, not that it's any of my concern."

"Not you concern…she's your daughter."

"Perception is reality. Her reality is that she has a loving mother, sister, uncle and father." Raven noted. "She is not at all my responsibility." Summer held her tongue. She knew there was no arguing her point. After all, this wasn't even a social visit. If not for this thing…this King…Raven probably wouldn't have bothered showing her face around here.

"Argentware." A voice said below.

"I bet you're wondering what that is." Raven said. "Don't worry, Shadow of the Necropolis may be a Grimm, but he's also a coward."

"It…it talked." Summer said. "Is it a Grimoire?"

"No. Not by strictest definitions. It's a Possession Grimm that has taken so many minds that it learned our language. There's no need to worry, it's sealed in there nice and tight." Summer's temper flared.

"Did…is it the one that killed…"

"No." Raven laughed. "Shadow of the Necropolis hasn't killed anything more than a fly in almost a hundred years. Your grandfather did quite the number on it when sealing it. Hell, you could probably go down there and talk to it, it'll grovel at your feet like a beggar. It has a pact with your family now, to guard your tombs until the end of eternity."

"I see." Summer said. "So what do I need to do, after meeting up with you that is?"

"We'll need to meet with Ozpin to get what you'll be sealing King into. But I think you should meet my associates first, so we'll be making a stop in West End."

"West End? That's halfway across the world. Just how long is this going to take?"

"A few days at most. We have a…way of transporting vast distances without a fuss." Raven said. "See you tomorrow." She opened up what looked like a portal with a stroke of her sword. "It was good seeing you again." She said. "Cute kid by the way." She strutted into the portal, leaving Summer out in the snow. She should probably get back, if she had a mission of this importance, she needed to prepare. With Winter Solstice coming up, her family probably wouldn't be too happy to hear that she's leaving.

 **An: Raven has returned. King, the Grimoire, even the Shadow of the Necropolis (or simply Flask) being name dropped this chapter. Everything is going to change. Those who read RWBYond Vale know who is probably coming next chapter. Agent Orange, which if you haven't pieced it together from the couple of times I've mentioned that name…it's Avarice, I mean, get it? Because he has orange eyes. Please review, follow and favorite.**


	12. Chapter 12

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: So this is the point where spoilers for RWBYond Vale really come into play. Also, for all you Avarice fans out there, there is going to be a little hint at something that will come into play in the upcoming origins story.**

Chapter 12: I'm Sure That I Will See You When I Make It Back Home

Raven flew through the winter air of Patch. She was supposed to meet up with Summer by the old barn house. Rather, she decided to take a peek at the home that Summer maintained, the family that Raven left behind. It was curiosity more than anything. She didn't know what she was expecting and didn't know why she even cared.

She eyed a small flock of birds sitting in a tree right outside the house. So, in her bird form, she decided to join them. Summer was standing right outside the door. Her two daughter wrapped around her leg refusing to let go. Raven cocked her head to the side.

"You can't go!" Yang protested.

"Yeah!" Ruby concurred. "It's Solstice tomorrow. You can't be gone during Solstice."

"Ruby, Yang, I have to." Summer peeled Ruby off her left leg. "I'll only be gone for a few days."

"So! It's a holiday." Yang fumed.

"Girls, please, I don't want to leave but it's really important." Summer said.

"What's so important?" Raven's heart skipped a beat as she heard Tai's voice. He joined them outside.

"Tai we talked about this…"

"You just kept saying it was really important."

"Tai, there's a big scary monster out there and I'm the only one that can…"

"Bull!" Tai stopped her. "I understand that you're one of the best. But you have a family. If Ozpin needs help that badly he can send Glynda, or Qrow or…"

"They aren't available." Summer argued. "I'm not having this conversation with you again." She peeled Yang off her leg. "Girls, I promise I'll be back in a few days. As soon as this powerful monster is dead, I'll come back and make it up to you. I swear. I will make you all a month's worth of cookies when I get back." She embraced both the children and gave them both kisses.

"Okay mommy." Ruby said. Yang wasn't so convinced. Ruby gave her mother another kiss. "Tell me all about it when you get back too. Oh, and bring me a present."

"I will Ruby." She put her forehead to Ruby's. "Don't let your sister and father pout too much, promise."

"I promise."

"Thank you." Summer turned to Yang. "You're in charge of the house while I'm gone." She gave a smile to the eldest girl. "Make sure your dad cleans up after himself."

"I promise." Yang said.

"Take care my love." She stood and gave Tai a passionate kiss. Raven had an unfamiliar feeling creep up inside her. Was it jealousy? Was this what she could have had if not for her goals?

Raven flew off as Summer said her farewell. Raven contemplated the validity of this mission. Sure, she didn't know nearly as much as Avarice. But, the Arbiters included Avarice, one of the most powerful beings in Remnant, Kraken was the Summer Maiden, Nemian was a veteran who had fought countless battles, Wasp was a powerful psychic, Beowulf was the best sniper in the world, Beringel wasn't much of a fighter but he had his uses. Now, if only Griffon hadn't flown off on his own personal vendetta.

"Raven?" Summer said as she approached the barn house. Raven slipped in behind the structure before transforming and walking out.

"Are you ready?" Raven asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Summer's face betrayed her. Raven could tell that she wasn't happy about keeping this from her family.

"First stop…" Raven opened a portal. "West End, Vacuo." Raven and Summer flew through the portal and moments later were half way across the world. This place was ground zero, the oldest city in Remnant. A lot of things had happened here throughout history. Namely, this was the birth place of the Arbiters thousands of years ago. This was where Avarice had met a man that shared his ambitions, and instead of fearing him, he wished to study the Grimoire. On that day three-thousand years ago, Avarice and Avis Bran created the Arbiters. But so much of that, and Avis Bran's role in history, were lost forever to the sands of time.

"Welcome, Nevermore and Argentware." Beringel greeted them.

"Wait…I know that voice." Summer said.

"Well I would hope you remembered me. I certainly haven't forgotten you." Beringel pointed his cane forward. Summer's eyes narrowed.

"Edwin Glas? Wasn't expecting you." Summer noted. The other Arbiters came out from the shadows.

"This is the first time we've all gathered in one place in a very long time." Beowulf said. "First time in my lifetime at least."

"This matter IS of great importance." Kraken said as she descended upon a pillar. "It is good to see you again Summer."

"So what Qrow said is true." Summer said. "You did join up with these guys, Octavia."

"That is correct." Kraken cracked a smile.

"So you're Summer Rose?" Nemian said as he hoisted his hammer upon his shoulder.

"I recognize the mask, but not anything else." Summer examined him.

"Ah, yes, during the revolution I believe you had a run in with my predecessor." Nemian explained.

"So, Ambrose Thurston is no longer among you." Summer sighed.

"He had a change in drive." Beringel stated. "As did Griffon, the Arbiter's best fighter. Which is one of…many reasons we have turned to you, the genetically superior huntress."

"Where's Avarice?" Raven asked.

"Forgive him if he's a bit…nervous." Beringel said. A Black Gate appeared in the middle of the room. From it, the master himself stepped forward. Summer's eyes narrowed, which was a strange reaction. Raven's first time seeing him, she couldn't believe it.

"Welcome Argentware." Avarice said. "Heh, I bet you're…" Summer slammed into him with the shaft of her halberd knocking the wind out of him.

"All this time…all these years…this vague threat…and the mastermind behind all of this is ONE of them." Summer fumed, white light pouring from her eyes. Avarice had grabbed the shaft and was in a battle of wills.

"And people wonder why I stick to the shadows." Avarice quipped. He pushed Summer back but she dashed around striking him several times around the body. Avarice took flight to escape but couldn't match Summer's speed as she leaped into the air and kicked him down with a force that shattered the stone floor.

"Ozpin knew…Raven knew…why didn't…" Summer slammed down on him.

"Will you calm down?" Avarice pleaded. He rolled out of the way of another attack and blocked a downward swing. "We're all friends here."

"You're a Grimm, a Grimoire."

"Yeah thanks for noticing now will you please…" Summer interrupted him with a kick to the chin. Beowulf raised his rifle to help but Beringel halted the movement with his cane.

"How did you do it?" Summer asked. "How did a creature like you ever convince Raven and Octavia to leave their loved ones?"

"Well not impulsively attacking people you invite to a party certainly helps." Avarice coughed out. Summer dove towards him and Avarice effortlessly blocked it and kicked Summer in the face and grabbed her with his clawed foot. He then set her down and leaped up onto a pillar.

"Summer calm down." Raven pleaded. "He may be a Grimoire but he's on our side. Hell, he is our side." There was something off about Avarice though. He should have mopped the floor with her. He was on par, if not well above a fully trained maiden. More tangibly, Raven had seen him move way faster and hit way harder than he did in that fight. It wasn't that he was holding back, he was noticeably less competent when fighting Summer.

"Just how…how and why are you here?" Summer asked. "Why am I here?"

"Well, in short the Grimm we'll be hunting is my big brother." Avarice said. "Your people have always had power over us. In fact, even in that brief altercation I couldn't fight to my fullest…I was scared…scared and terrified…. remembering the first time I had ever seen that power." He pointed to his sewn up eye. "Didn't end well…In fact it was so bad that a dozen lives and deaths later I still get nightmares about how badly my brethren and I were destroyed that day."

"It's the secret to the Argentware power." Raven said. "Your ancestors were the first to defeat the Grimm. They slaughtered the Grimoire so proficiently, that when that light comes from your eyes, lesser Grimm will still turn to stone in fear."

"It's a psychological affect." Beringel said.

"Someone as powerful as me doesn't feel the effects as much but it's still there." Avarice sighed. "I'm counting on that effect. That power, that effect, is the only thing that can seal King."

"Your big brother?" Summer asked.

"The first of the Grimoire. You see, in those days we were simply called monsters. The continent now known as the Lost Kingdom was once simply called Grimm. The original monster, which is a story for another day but is now referred to as Hecatonchires, collapsed in that land. From his body, we Grimoire were formed. We ruled that land and sought to destroy humanity. But we were stopped by the Argentware. Well, there was a lot more at play than that but, I think you get the gist of it."

"I understand." Summer smiled. "I know you probably know how much people would despise you if they knew about you. But knowing that we're working together to beat an even greater bad guy, it gives me a little hope you know. Like, if a soulless beast like you can do some good, why can't we?"

"I wouldn't exactly call my motives good." Avarice brandished his claws. "I merely want King out of the picture. My true motives are different. But I assure you, humanity remaining strong is important to me. That's why my Arbiters have long protected your bloodline from extinction. Without us, your whole family would have been whipped out a hundred years ago."

"Raven was telling me about that." Summer said.

"Nevermore." Beowulf corrected through his teeth.

"Whatever, what exactly happened?" Summer asked.

"I wasn't actually there for…obvious reasons. But it's the same old song and dance. Monsters attacked heroes saved the day. Only this time the monster was a possessor and King himself, while the heroes were the Spring Maiden sent by Ozpin and a couple Arbiters sent by me."

"So…now that I've met the gang, where to next?" Summer asked.

"Well, I was hoping to chat for tonight." Avarice said. "Get some chemistry going. Then we still need two things. Ozpin has the King's Chart, which is required to seal him. Otherwise, if we kill him, he'll be back in a matter of just a few years or decades at most. Then, I'll need a certain item in order to help you seal the deal. But we'll talk about that after we're done with the Wizard."

"Why didn't we get that first?" Summer asked. "I was in Patch, surely it would have been easier to go there first."

"I needed to make sure you were on board with this." Avarice said. "It'll take both you and Nevermore in order to convince him. Even so, he wouldn't be convinced unless you know about who…what I am."

"Well I'm in."

"Nevermore was right, you are quick to jump into a hunt."

"If this…King…is as bad as you say he is, then I have to."

"That you do." Avarice smiled.

 **An: Things are picking up. So, Avarice vs. Summer happened sort of. Also, a little foreshadowing for the upcoming RWBYond Origins. Maybe a little tease at RWBYond War. Definitely some set up for the next two or three chapters. It's going to keep at this pace for a while. Be sure to review, follow and favorite.**


	13. Chapter 13

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: Let the mission continue. This is going to be the shortest chapter in this little arc. My original plan was to have a chapter where we see King revive, and that sends the Arbiters to where we saw them in RWBYond Destiny. But in order to pace it out a little better with the rest of this story, I decided to give this from Ozpin's perspective.**

Chapter 13: Hail to the King

Ozpin sat on his desk and took a drink of coffee. This was certainly shaping up to be another year at Beacon Academy. Two lives and seventy years of this had certainly taken their toll on the headmaster. He remembered when his name was said with reverence, when everyone around him seemed like a unique snowflake. Now, with how popular his school had become, he was lucky to find one truly exceptional student a year.

"Professor Ozpin." Glynda peaked her head in. That reminded him of the one thing that was different this year. The now twenty-nine-year-old huntress was Beacon's newest staff member.

"Yes, Glynda come in." He said. The woman blushed at hearing him speak to her as an equal. Even just a year ago he wouldn't have done that. He would have just called her Ms. Goodwitch. "And please just call me Ozpin."

"With all due respect sir, my standing may have been increased…but you are still my superior."

"True as that may be, we are no longer teacher and student. We are colleagues, working for the same goal." In truth, Glynda had become incredibly powerful. Her power rivaled that of the maidens. If, even just for fun, they came to blows, Ozpin wasn't entirely confident that he could beat her. Which is exactly why she was the new combat instructor, and with due time, she would undoubtedly teach many other classes. Ozpin had never seen a more naturally gifted teacher, not in this lifetime anyway.

"Thank you…Ozpin." She gave a bow. "I just wanted to inform you, Qrow returned from his mission but decided to go to Patch before giving his report."

"Understandable." Ozpin said. "Give him time to gather his thoughts before he reports in. Not everyone can jump right in to these sorts of things. Is there anything important?"

"Not that he told me?" Glynda said. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a familiar bird flying around his tower.

"Glynda, if you could take the time to read these transcripts and give me your opinions tomorrow, that would be lovely." Ozpin transferred the files to her.

"Of course Ozpin." Glynda said. She walked out to do her work. She always was a busy bee.

Just as she left the portal appeared. Ozpin had been expecting them, the bird was a sign that the Arbiters wished to hold an audience with him. Out from the portal, four figures stepped forward. Nevermore, Kraken, one Ozpin didn't recognize but was wearing a beringel mask, and…Summer?

"Mrs. Rose…this is a surprise…" Ozpin gawked. She wasn't wearing a mask so she wasn't one of them.

"Ozpin…" Nevermore started. "We need the King's Chart."

"Whatever…"

"King is back." Nevermore interrupted. That explained why they recruited Summer.

"That's impossible." Ozpin said. "The world is at peace. It has been for years now."

"He came back." Kraken said. "We don't know how or when."

"Well, isn't that Avarice's job?" Ozpin asked.

"It's your job to keep the people safe." Nevermore raised her voice. "It's our job to keep you informed."

"Very well." Ozpin stood. "May I ask though, why are you here Summer?" She looked at him coldly.

"They needed my help. So I'm helping." She said bluntly. "I have a question for you…when were you planning on telling me this?"

"Summer you have to understand…"

"I do!" She said. "Ozpin, I have served you for many years now. Every time there's been a powerful Grimm, it's me that you've called. We've discussed that. So why didn't you tell me about the Grimoire."

"I didn't want to cause a panic." Ozpin argued.

"Does Qrow know?" Summer's question hung over the room.

"No." Ozpin answered.

"Are you…I'm starting to get it." Summer said. "I'm starting to get why Granny Glens never trusted you. Qrow is working his ass off to spy on your little personal vendetta, and you can't even bring yourself to tell him that you're hiding the greatest threat to Remnant from the people. Does he at least know the person he's spying on wants to take over the world and kill you in the process?"

"I will NOT be getting in a debate with you Summer Rose." Ozpin said.

"You don't have to." Summer narrowed her eyes. "Just tell me where the King's chart is, and I'll do the rest." She turned her back on him. "I'll leave you here in your emerald tower while the real heroes risk their lives to fight what's coming."

"Real heroes?" Ozpin said. "Tell me, Summer Rose, how did a girl with little skill in dust engulf Modor Draco in a forest's worth of foliage?" Summer paused.

"That's none of…"

"It is my business. Protecting and guiding the Maidens is my one true purpose. Throughout all my lifetimes, that has been my role."

"I'm no maiden."

"Why do you deny what you are?"

"I'm not! I am a hero, an Argentware, a slayer of monsters, a wife and a mother of two. And those two girls, they're the reason why I'm doing this. I don't need your help. I don't need your guidance. I can't afford, the world can't afford, my kid, which are my world can't afford to be hidden away. Maybe you should think about that when you try to bury the truth." Summer stormed out and Nevermore went after her.

"In the basement, corridor three, second room." Ozpin told the others. "That's where it is." Kraken nodded and followed after the other two.

"Well that was interesting." Beringel said. "You know, she did something quite amazing the first time I saw her. I believe that she is in fact the Spring Maiden. Though, she prefers the role she has now. Shame, had she gotten your guidance she could have become a god among huntresses. But, if she's content at just being exceptional, we're in no position to stop her." Beringel followed after. "Another time, Professor." He disappeared behind the door.

Ozpin sat back down in his chair. Summer was a fool. If she confronts King in her current state she'd likely perish. Even with the Arbiter's help. Luckily, Kraken was the Summer Maiden and was tapping into the extent of her powers now. That thought eased Ozpin's mind. King would surely fall with no problem if they work together.

 **An: So, I'll admit, there's a few retcons in this story. When I was writing RWBYond Vale, I didn't pay attention much to my timeline. So, they said that this happened thirteen years ago, it was actually ten years before the start of the Necros stuff. This also kind of messes with the age I had Cinder at. Definitely something I'll go back and fix after I'm done with RWBYond War. Anyway, timeline issues aside, I hope you liked this chapter. Be sure to Review, follow and favorite.**


	14. Chapter 14

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: Before I get started, this is the 200** **th** **chapter I have written in the RWBYond verse. I've also been looking forward to this chapter for quite a bit, and with all the work I have to do this weekend, excuse me if this chapter comes way later in the day then you may be used to.**

Chapter 14: Warrior of Destiny

Summer and the Arbiters were making their final stop before they confront King. Salem held the Eye of Truth, she was Ozpin's equal and opposite. Whereas Ozpin represented all that is wrong with doing right; Salem represented everything right in doing wrong. The more Avarice spoke of them, the more Summer got the impression that they weren't too different.

Avarice was something else entirely. Given, Salem and Ozpin were very much humans. It was just their power and memories that would change form and hosts throughout the ages. Other than that, they were just as human as anyone else. But Avarice and King, they were a different coin altogether. They were Grimoire, and as such had been at war off and on since the beginning of time. Avarice actually liked to brag about it, said Summer should too, it was her ancestors that set him on his path in the first place. The Hunter and the Goddess of Spring was a true story, and the Hunter in that story was the one who cut Avarice's eye out in the first place.

Summer still wasn't sure what the purpose of this trip was. Supposedly the King's Chart, when used by an Argentware, would summon the Blades of Abraham and seal away any monster they come into contact with. They had to act fast to seal King away before he summoned the Hecatonchires. Even though in today's world, the combined might of the Kingdoms would surely be enough to destroy it, no one involved with this operation were willing to put that to the test.

When they touched down, it appeared they were in a throne room. There was a woman sitting in a throne, sipping from a glass of wine. She had a pair of ratattas at her side and looked at them with curiosity. This was undoubtedly Salem. There was something other worldly about her. It was only now that Summer's heart feared for Qrow, who had been spending a lot of his time spying on the witch. She gazed down on them for a minute, silently talking to herself as she did.

"Greetings Arbiters." She said. "And Avarice…to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"King has returned." Avarice said stepping forward.

"I know…I have seen it. Call it a trial run."

"Should have known you'd have something to do with it." Avarice laughed. "Tell me, why now?"

"It's simple, because I can." Salem said. "I hope you didn't come all the way here just to tell me that."

"We're here for the Eye of Truth." Summer stepped forward.

"Oh wow." Salem's jaw dropped. "I never thought I'd see the day." She stood and gave a little bow. "Greetings Argentware. Tell me, what brings a pinnacle of virtue and nobility such as yourself, to seek an audience with me while standing at the side of the Arbiters."

"I'm here to seal King." She held up the King's chart. Salem raised an eyebrow.

"So, Avarice came here with backup in case his little power play doesn't work. Let me tell you something, you don't need the Eye of Truth to seal King, but Avarice needs it to take his power." Summer shot her gaze to Avarice who seemed rather flustered.

"It's true." He said. "I don't believe in lies. Summer Rose, I told you the truth, there is no primary or secondary plan. We will use both plans." He brandished his claws towards Salem. "Because I know I am unfit to have so much power at this time. So you are mistaken, I will only take a part of his power and seal him away. Then, he will never be able to challenge me."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Salem began descending the stairs. "You come into my home, with all your forces looking to take what is currently mine. Speaking of all…where is Griffon?" Summer noticed she seemed distracted, as if her mind was elsewhere. She wondered if Mantis was getting inside her head.

"He's out hunting the man that killed Fairview." Avarice answered.

"Still? It's been ten years." Salem sounded surprised.

"It was an altercation with your men that killed him." Kraken said. "Griffon's taken a lot of time off here and there to find the man responsible."

"I see, I'll make you a deal Avarice, leave now, and I will deliver Griffon his man. Then you wouldn't need a bookie like Glas to fill your ranks."

"Hey…" Beringel started.

"It's true." Avarice shrugged. "Which is why I have the Argentware here and now. Had Griffon been on hand, I would have come here first, then got Argentware on board to seal King."

"So you have thought this out." Salem sighed. "Very well. I have no choice but to defend myself."

Lightning flew from her hand and Summer dodged it. Raven joined her side as they flanked the witch. Avarice and Kraken flew in above her, crashing down and sending her into a wall. Salem clapped her hands and a swarm of Grimm materialized from the black inks on the wall.

Beowulf and Nemian were on crowd control. The way they moved showed that they were expecting it. Likely Avarice having told them things about the Grimm Summer could never know. As she bludgeoned the ratattas she contemplated how much insight into Grimm Avarice could give.

Avarice and Salem seemed evenly matched. But that was just on appearances. Avarice was taking a lot more punishment without breaking stride than Salem was. Kraken flew through the air and sent a batch of bubbles towards Salem. The witch responded with a torrent of orange flame.

Beringel and Manis held their own against the Grimm, content with just staying back. The fight lasted several more minutes with Summer and Raven fighting side by side against all the Grimm. A few soldiers came in to help Salem and Raven made quick work of them. Summer fought as well but purposely kept her blows non-lethal. Which didn't jive well with the way Arbiters did things.

"You're puling your punches." Raven said as she swung her sword and opened a portal. The soldier dodged the attack only to be kicked through the portal.

"I'm not one of you." Summer said. "I didn't come here to kill anyone." Summer used her powers to create vines that constricted a large group of Grimm then with a flash of her eyes they were petrified.

Avarice was blasted into the ceiling by purple lightning. Salem hit him with a fire ball before she locked hands with Kraken. An eerie smile crossed Salem's face as she kicked the maiden down. Summer saw some kind of bug coming out of her. It covered Kraken in a black ink. Summer's instincts kicked in and she dashed over and cut the connection.

"What…was that…?" Kraken said. Summer barrled into Salem slamming her down. Then Avarice came in and knocked her into the air.

"Are you alright?" Summer asked.

"Yeah, I felt…my power draining…it's all here but…that took a lot out of me." Kraken said.

"Hang back." Summer was blasted by a concussive wave of wind.

"Oh so brave and selfless." Salem said. "To throw yourself at the defense of these people."

"I have to set a good example for my daughter." Summer quipped as she picked herself up. Another batch of Grimm stood between her and the witch, they didn't stand for very long.

"That's right…a daughter." Salem said. "I know the feeling, taking in and loving someone you have no real claim to." Her eyes went to Raven for a second. "So much so that you had a daughter of your own to validate your own position as a mother."

"That's not tru!" Summer gave pause.

"Please, I have the Eye of Truth. I can tell when you're lying…even if it's to yourself. Perhaps one day our children will fight. It would certainly be fitting, seeing as how I'm trying to be a force of revolution and you're a force for nobility." Salem rolled her eyes.

She threw a fireball as Summer, then another. Summer dodged each of them, drawing her fire. Avarice tackled her to the ground. As she blasted Avarice in the air, Raven dropped down and stabbed her with a blade shrouded in lightning. The blade went through Salem's stomach and pinned her. She grunted in pain.

"Don't give me that look." Avarice said. The soldier from before crashed through the ceiling, dying on impact. "That stab might hurt like hell but you're more than enough to recover from it." He gripped Salem's face. "But I'll be taking this." A red light erupted from Salem's face as she screamed.

"What is he…" Summer was stopped by Raven.

"The Eye of Truth is inside of her." Raven said. "Don't worry, it won't kill her. Avarice wants to keep her alive so he can maintain track of her." Summer bit her lip, unable to protest.

All the Grimm in the area evaporated in an instant. Avarice was laughing as Salem cried in pain. Summer had to physically hold herself back to stop herself. Raven putting a hand on her shoulder certainly helped. The light faded, Salem was passed out, her red markings were gone and replaced by a simple black gem marking. Avarice opened up his previously sealed eye, it glowed with the same symbol that was on Salem's face.

"Pleasure doing business with you Salem." Avarice turned his back and opened up a portal. "Maybe next time I come here we can get some tea, for old time's sake." Avarice stepped forward. Summer wanted to run and check on her. She had said she had a daughter, or at least a surrogate daughter. She couldn't bare the thought…

"We have to go Summer." Raven gave her a comforting squeeze. "Then I'll take you home to be with your family."

"They're your family too." Summer said.

"No they aren't." Raven said as they went through the portal.

 **An: Once again, happy 200 chapters me! Sorry for how late in the day this is. I know many of you like waking up to this story, but I just couldn't with what my schedule has been. Next time, everyone vs. King. Also, keep an eye out on my profile because I'll be having a little sneak peak at RWBYond War. Please Review, follow and favorite.**


	15. Chapter 15

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: This is it, the moment so many people have been waiting for/dreading. This concludes the Mission Arc for this story. Be sure to keep an eye on my profile for more content, I've decided the preview for RWBYond War will be a bonus chapter in both RWBYond Vale and RWBYond Happily Ever After. So if you haven't, read those stories to catch up with everything going on with my page after this story concludes. Also, a little clarification, Wasp and Mantis are the same person, just like how Nevermore and Raven are. What they are called is dependent on who the chapter is primarily following.**

Chapter 15: Thus Kindly I Scatter

The snowy breeze washed through Raven's body as the team touched down on the mountain. They were somewhere in Mistral; Avarice had told them that much. He seemed well pleased with himself now that he had the Eye of Truth.

"Alright." Avarice said. "King is somewhere in these woods. Pair up, Kraken, you're with me."

"Wouldn't it be wiser for me to go with either you or Summer?" Kraken asked.

"You still haven't recovered." Avarice noted. "It's smarter for you and I to stick together. Summer and I stand the greatest chance of limiting King's movements. Wasp has the best chance of finding him. So we'll be the group leaders. Nevermore, you're with Summer. Beringel, with Wasp and Nemian, with Beowulf."

"Got it." Summer said. Raven walked around the forest with her. There were signs of Grimm activity, but not a lot. They started making their way towards a nearby village in the distance. If King had decided to pick a fight, then all the people in that town were in danger.

"Tracks." Raven said, kneeling to the ground. "I've never seen tracks quite like this. It must be him."

"Then we're on the right track." Summer said. "So, what are you going to do after this?"

"Same as always. Keep exploring, keep moving, keep working for Avarice."

"Has it ever crossed your mind to stop running?"

"Nope."

"Raven, we miss you, Qrow misses you, I'm certain Tai misses you and I sure as hell do."

"Well I don't miss them much."

"Raven, whether you like it or not they ARE your family."

"No, they are yours." Raven sighed. "They don't need me."

"Raven, I'm not asking you to be Yang's mother, God no, I've had nightmares about you taking her away. I am asking you to be part of our family again."

"And give Yang two mothers? Wouldn't that make your daughter a little jealous."

"I'm not saying that. I just think you'd make a really cool aunt for them to look up to."

"I'm not worth looking up to."

"Yes you are."

"No, Summer, I'm not. You have no idea what kind of person I've become. You obviously never thought out what would happen if I did come back…" Raven was cut off by the sound of Wasp's psychic breathing.

"What the…" Summer gasped. Wasp's psychic construct was flailing around in the air as if he were choking. He rapidly pointed his arm out in a general direction.

"Come one." Raven grabbed Summer and they headed in that direction. After they got to a certain point, there was a massive concussion wave that leveled a line of trees. They arrived and for the first time ever, Raven laid eyes on King, the massive nine-foot-tall werewolf with white armor covering his entire body. He had Wasp around the throat, Beringel's mask laid broken at his feet.

"I knew you would come." He growled. "You always do." He tossed Wasp into the air and wound up a punch. White petals flew past Raven's face as Summer dove in to save him. A sonic boom echoed through the forest as King punched the empty air, the shockwave barely caught Summer and Wasp, sending them flying.

"Summer!" Raven said. She drew her red sword, Redstone wasn't the best against Grimm, it tended to liquefy instead of kill, but it was more useful than her other swords. She slid in and sliced at King's armor, the sword grinded against the armor plates. King turned to her and threw a punch. Raven leaped in the air to dodge it but the shockwave that came off it made her ears ring. She barely dodged the downward strike but then King back handed her. From that one blow alone, Raven knew that trying to block was a bad idea.

"A Redstone blade and red eyes. So, you're one of Avis Bran's descendants. You're an heir to that cursed blood line!" He rushed at her at such speed that Raven's eyes could barely keep up. She prepared a moon slice to counter and ducked under his lunging swing. Her strike landed in one of the narrow gaps in the armor and sliced through it. The line of black hide started oozing as King grunted. He then landed a kick to Raven's ribs.

The sound of sniper fire resonated from the trees. Beowulf laid suppressing fire on him, each round hit line tank missile that bounced off of him. King through a punch in that direction, leveling more trees and causing Beowulf to fall back. Nemian landed in with a hammer blow to King's head. He deflected one of King's strikes and hit him in the head but King retaliated with a head-butt and a punch to his gut. He turned his eyes on Raven, who was rushing to continue the assault. Raven aimed her sword at King's neck, but in an instant she realized King would out pace her. Then, Summer torpedoed into his back, causing him to stumble.

"Leave her alone!" She shouted as she drew her weapon.

"Argentware!" King roared. Summer's eyes were set ablaze. "My mortal and eternal enemy." King rushed her but was stopped by the abrupt creation of a massive tree around him. King was stopped for a second, long enough for Beowulf to shoot him right in the eye. King roared again and broke out of the tree. Summer dodged his strike and what was left of the tree flew into King and exploded.

"We have you, now." Kraken said as she dropped in. Her eyes were glowing with a royal purple light as bubbles formed all around her with fire ice and lightning. She flung them all at King, the fire melted the ice and was then charged by lightning, dealing massive damage to King. More and more bubbles surrounded him. "MELT!" She called out, the area around King was covered in acid, the snow melted and Kraken reformed it with her magic to capture King.

Summer dashed forward as King broke free and struck him numerous times. King was on the defensive, leveling the ground with his sonic punches. Kraken took some of the debris, ready to throw it back when she dropped to her knees with a huff and a grunt. King swooped in and batted her through the trees. He kept his assault, obviously seeing her powers at a threat. Summer and Raven both blocked his next punch but were thrown back themselves. Kraken tried getting back up but stumbled to the ground writhing in pain.

"Where's…" Raven was cut off when Avarice dropped from the sky, tackling King to the ground. "Never mind."

"So you decided to show your face here traitor." King snarled.

"Well I heard by big brother was back and I just had to drop in and say high and die." Avarice balked. King threw him into the air, grabbed him and slammed him down. Raven went to his aid, slashing at King's torso. King grabbed her sword and punched her in the gut. He then tossed Avarice to the ground and stomped on his face. Raven hit her back against the tree and nearly passed out, her aura was definitely in the red now.

Summer jumped in to the fight between Avarice and King. Raven had seen a lot of fights, man vs. man, man vs. beast, but these three were forces of nature. Avarice and King especially. They didn't fight with skill or finesse, it was raw, brutal, strength. Avarice moved well and threw in some martial arts, but slick moves did nothing to King except give him time to tear into Avarice's armored flesh. He bit into Avarice's shoulder as Avarice dug his claws into King's side.

Raven stood her ground as Nemian and Beowulf paired up and unleashed ranged attacks. King and Avarice started tumbling on the ground, prompting the pair to stop or risk hitting Avarice. Summer didn't care as much, she was right there hacking away at King, trying to make an opening to use the King's chart.

King wound up on top and choke slammed Avarice. He picked him up and punched him numerous times at point blank. After several blows he let Avarice go and punched him again. Black ink came from Avarice's claws and it latched onto King.

"Hit him now!" Avarice shouted. King howled up at the broken moon as his powers started decreasing. Summer was all over him, keeping his claws away from the black goo that bound him to Avarice. Summer occasionally was forced to take a hit and was sent flying. Every time, Raven, Nemian, or Beowulf would jump in to keep up the fight only to be flung around. King hit Raven with his palm, shattering her mask. Blood dripped down her face and into her eye. Nemian slammed his hammer down using dust to create a stone pillar around King's dominate hand. This was it, and Summer hit him with the King's chart.

"You're done you son of a bitch." Beowulf said. Silver blades fell from the sky and impaled King and pinning him to the ground.

"Get back Argentware." Nemian said. "Your part is done, we'll handle the rest."

"YES!" Avarice cheered. "Now I know how Void feels…at least a little bit."

"My power…will not satisfy you." King snarled. He let out a mighty roar that shook the earth. He broke free of his bonds and severed his connection with Avarice. He rushed his fellow Grimoire, catching him by the arm and hitting him with all his might. Avarice went flying, but his arm did not. It was ripped from his body and held by King.

Nemian hit King with his hammer, driving one of the blades deeper into his body. King used Avarice's arm to block Nemian's second strike. He then wrapped the appendage around the Arbiter's throat, kicked his knee out and blasted him. Nemian went through half a dozen trees and was knocked out. King then used the arm like a spear to hit Beowulf and knock him out.

"Summer get out of here!" Raven shouted. Summer wasn't listening, she held her hands out, casting more blades to the King's chart. King tried to pull them out faster than they were going in. He was succeeding. Summer dropped to one knee exhausted. As King swung at her, Summer managed to regain her composure and dodge.

"I heard about you Argentware." King said. "You are so much like your ancestors. Always running to fight the Grimm. But you're different. You chastise and berate those who lie yet you hide your true power as a maiden." King kept the assault up, Summer trying her hardest to stay ahead but was falling back. "You run from your responsibilities to the world. Is it because you don't want to abandon your child like you were abandoned?"

"What are you talking about?" Summer shouted.

"Your parents, how they left you alone to face their fate at the hands of my brother and sister, Void and Panic."

"So it WAS a Grimoire!" Summer yelled. She was blasted back.

"Yes, I wish it was I that did it." King snarled. Raven ran up and picked up one of the discarded blades. "They were also reluctant to use their full powers, despite relegating themselves as Ozpin's pawns. If they had, they may have managed to survive long enough for reinforcements to arrive." The blade fused with Raven's aura forming a long silver blade for her sword. "But try as YOU might, your fate is the same as theirs. And just like you, your daughter won't forgive you. I can only imagine what the other one would think."

"I don't think so." Raven sliced along his back, moving through his armor as if it weren't there.

"WHAT?!" King roared.

"These blades seem to be your weakness." Raven stood in her combat stance. "Let's see what happens when a real swordsman uses them."

"I've seen real swordsmen use them." King said. "Compared to him, you're a novice." King rushed her, bouncing around the scatted trees until he crashed into her. The silver blade dug into his chest. "Take a look Argentware!" He slammed Raven into a boulder. "This is what happens to those who follow hypocritical ideals."

Raven's aura shattered. Her life flashed before her eyes. For a second, she saw what could have been if she came back. How she could have been Ruby and Yang's aunt Raven. Then everything went white. A figure stood in front of her looking like a blessed white angel. Was this the White Raven her father had been obsessed with? The figures arms were stretched out as if ready to embrace her into the afterlife. Then, everything went red as blood covered Raven's face. The red stained body of light floated in front of her for just a second before slamming into a tree. There was no mistaking it. Her guardian angel, the one who saved her was…

"SUMMER!" Raven screamed in pain, anger and sadness. She swung the silver sword with such great speed and raw emotion that in caught a radiant fire and sparked with electricity, slicing through King's neck. She drove the sword though his head, his form was then sucked into the tapestry that was the King's Chart.

"Nevermore!" Kraken called as she limped and flailed around on the ground. Raven turned to see Summer's body against the tree.

"NO, no, no, nononononono!" She ran and slid to Summer's side. "Summer." She was still breathing. "Thank God. You idiot, why did you risk your life for me?" Raven cried out.

"I couldn't stop…myself." Summer said weakly. "That…sword…please promise me never to use it again. Not unless it's…against another Grimoire."

"I promise." Raven's eyes were flooded with tears and blood. "Kraken, get over here!" Kraken flopped to Summer's body and tried using her magic to heal.

"I…" Kraken couldn't finish her sentence.

"You're going to be okay Summer. Kraken is amazing just like you."

"I'm…glad you…have friends still." Summer coughed up blood. "Please watch over the children." Tears ran down Summer's face.

"Don't say things like that. We'll have you back home in no time." Raven said, as she kissed Summer's hand.

"It's okay to cry." Summer said cupping Raven's cheek. "You don't…have that…mask on. There's no hiding…anymore…please."

"Summer, there's no changing who I am. Please, just think happy thoughts and we'll patch you up." Raven pleaded.

"Nevermore please." Kraken put a hand on her shoulder but Raven swatted it off.

"I'm sorry Qrow…I was never…able to pay you back…for the last time you…took me drinking. I'm sorry Tai…my love…I've left you with…such a burden. I'm sorry Yang…I wish I could be…there for you. I wish…that I could have…told you the truth…and that you could learn…what real love is."

"There's no need to apologize." Raven said. "You'll see them in just a few hours."

"I'm…so sorry Ruby." Summer started crying. "I'm so sorry I…broke my promise…I wish I could tell you…one more time…that I love you…that you're my one true love…that you're all that ever mattered…but now…thus kindly…I scatter." Summer sighed her last breath.

"Summer." Raven shook her body as her eyes drifted shut. "Summer?" Her body went limp in Raven's arms. "Summer!" She screamed but there was no response. Tears filled Raven's eyes and escaped down her cheeks. She let out a guttural scream of agony before doubling over and crying, crying for the first time in years. Summer's body turned to white rose petals, a phenomenon that only happens when a Spring Maiden dies, granted different color of leaves or petals depending on the person. The only thing left behind was the blood stained cape.

"It happens to the best of us." Avarice said as he walked up behind them. His arm severed and the rest of him looking worst for wear. "It's always the best of us that die first. It's because…sacrifice is a virtue."

"But why her?" Raven sniffled out. "Why now? Why ME?!"

"Because she still had faith in you." Avarice put his hand on Raven's shoulder. "If you need time off, I understand. Wasp and the others are alright. We only lost Beringel, and he was just a substitute anyway."

"I can't have time off." Raven said. "I can't be alone to think about her. And I…and I…I can't look them in the eye…not anymore…not ever again."

"Alright." Avarice said. "Kraken…Ruby Rose is now the last of the Argentware and the most likely candidate for being the Spring Maiden. You will be her watcher. Her safety is in your hands."

"Understood. But…shouldn't it be Nevermore?" Kraken inquired.

"Raven, probably can't handle it." Avarice said. "Trust me, there are none in this reality better for this job than you." Avarice opened up a Black Gate. "Take care Raven, take as much time as you need. You know where to find me."

Just like that they were gone. Raven's whole world had been torn to shreds right before her eyes. All that was left was Summer's weapon, her cape, and the King's Chart with the King of Beasts sealed away into Oblivion. Raven gave Summer a proper burial on that mountain, using her weapon inlieu of a body. Then, she flew away.

 **An: God I think I made myself cry with that scene. There's a reason why I prefer writing the quick painless deaths but this was not one of them. Next time, a Ruby chapter where everything starts to set in. Be sure to Review, follow and favorite.**


	16. Chapter 16

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: You know what kills me more than a character death, that creeping sense of uncertainty until you're forced to move on. Sort of like how the volume 4 trailer comes out today. But I was actually referring to this being from Ruby's perspective.**

Chapter 16: Where's Mom?

Week One:

"When's Mom coming back?" Ruby said as she hunched over the table doodling some indiscernible figure.

"She'll be back whenever her missions over." Tai said from across the table.

"Yeah Ruby, Mom's going to be back any day now." Yang beamed. "Then she'll make us lots of cookies for taking so long.

Week Two:

"I'm starting to worry about her." Tai told Qrow.

"Tai, Summer's a big girl, she can take care of herself." Qrow responded.

"I know it's just…she's never gone this long without finding a way to contact us." Tai said, Ruby wondered why they were so worried. There wasn't anything alive that could take down her mommy.

"That's not how these missions work." Qrow took a drink from his flask. "She's working with…well…some people I've worked with before. She's not doing the simple search and destroy mission. She's doing more of my kind of work. Powerful Grimm running loose, evading authorities. I'd be surprised if she did get back by now."

"If you say so." Tai sat on the couch.

"Look, she came into Ozpin's office a little while after she left. She got something from that vault of his to help her on her mission. Before you ask, no, I don't know what. But I do know she wasn't alone."

"Who was she with?" Tai asked. Qrow looked at Ruby and Yang playing with their dolls.

"Girls, can you go up in your room for a minute?" Qrow said.

Week Three:

"Something's happened to her." Tai paced around the room.

"Tai, please, calm down." Qrow put a hand on his shoulder.

"I will not stay calm." Tai said. The way he spoke scarred Ruby. "Last week, you told me that she was with…with her."

"Who's he talking about?" Ruby whispered.

"I don't know." Yang said.

"It's all happening again." Tai put his head to his hands.

"No it isn't. Summer isn't like her, she would never just leave like that. Even if she did…she would…"

"What?" Tai asked. Qrow gulped down the rest of his drink.

"I've seen her a few times since she left…Raven that is."

Week Four:

"When's mom getting home?!" Ruby pouted. "It's been like forever."

"I know Ruby." Yang said. "But Mom is still on her mission."

"I miss her." Ruby cried.

"We all do." Qrow said.

"When she gets back…" Yang said. "I'm never letting her leave again." Qrow stood up.

"Where are you going Uncle Qrow?" Ruby said. Qrow sighed and looked at Tai.

"I'm going to help her out." He said. "Shouldn't be hard for a pro like me to catch up."

Week Five:

"Why is everyone gone?" Yang complained.

"I want Mom." Ruby crossed her arms.

"I know sweetie." Tai said. "But Mom can't be here right now."

"Well I'm going on strike!" Yang said. "No chores until Mom gets back."

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered.

"Girls please. It's hard enough not having your Mom around for so long. Can you at least be good girls and help out?"

"Nnno." Ruby said. "Mommy broke her promise."

"She said it would be a few days, not a few weeks." Yang pouted.

Week 6:

"Where's Mom!" Ruby shouted.

"Every day with this." Daisy said.

"I'm worried about her Daisy." Tai said. "She's never been gone this long, not for any reason."

"I've known Summer a lot longer than any of you. She's fine, I know it."

Someone came in through the door.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby ran up at incredible speeds. She tried peaking around to see her mother, but couldn't and Qrow wouldn't move out of the way.

"Oh God." Tai said. Qrow pushed Ruby away.

"Ruby, Yang, let's go in your room." Daisy said taking her hand.

"No." Tai said.

"Why? What's wrong?" Ruby inquired.

"Your Dad and Uncle need to talk." Daisy yanked her up and carried her away. The last thing she heard was,

"Tai, I'm so sorry."

After that, she heard Tai crying and Qrow crying and Daisy was crying a lot. Ruby tried to cheer them up.

Week Seven:

All of Patch was gathered on the cliff. Ruby couldn't for the life of her imagine why. Everyone looked so sad. This was supposed to be a happy day. It was a holiday weekend of love. Sure, it was raining, which some people not named Ruby Rose didn't like. But everyone looked sad and wore black dresses and suits and it looked so sad.

"Why is everyone so sad?" Ruby pouted.

"Because they can." Yang shot back.

"But Mommy will be back any minute. She won't be happy if she comes home to see everyone sad after so long."

"Mom's not coming back!" Yang squeezed her hand.

"Don't be silly Yang." Ruby saw her eyes turn red as her grip tightened. "Yang, you're hurting me."

"So?"

"So it hurts."

"Well at least you get that."

"What are you talking about? I'm going to tell Mom you were mean to me when she was gone."

"Go ahead." Yang let go.

"Yang, you're scaring me. What's wrong."

"Just shut up Ruby!" Yang yelled. Qrow spanked her.

"I know you're upset." He said. "But now's not the time."

Month Seven:

"I hate her." Yang said. "I hate them both."

"That's no way to speak about your sister or your mother." Qrow said.

Ruby just ignored them and went to her father. He looked really sad, and had for a long time now. She nudged him with a book. In the last few months, Yang had taken reading duties. But Yang was being a doodoo head.

"Go away Ruby." Tai pushed her away. She looked at her father with sadness.

"Why are you pushing her away?" Yang shouted.

"Yang just, leave me alone and go read to Ruby."

"Not until you tell me why you've been such a jerk lately." Yang stomped her foot.

"Because every time I try to be happy I've reminded how much it hurts knowing your mothers left me alone!" He shouted.

"Mothers?" Yang said.

"Ruby, go to your room." Qrow said. "I'll read to you, and even show you my weapon later."

One Year After Summer Passed

Ruby was seven now. It had been a year since her mother vanished. But in the meantime, everyone kept saying that if she felt like she needed to talk to her mother, she could come here. There was a little stone altar now. It said, Summer Rose, Thus Kindly I Scatter. Ruby thought it was odd to talk to a stone slab. But then again,

"Hey Mom." She said. "Where have you been?"

"I've missed you."

"They…they told me you died."

"I feel empty."

"Because Yang's upset all the time, Dad hardly does anything. At least Uncle Qrow's around now. He took a job at Signal so he could help out. They're so mean! They won't tell me anything. I keep asking where you are and they just tell me to shut up. I…why haven't you come back yet?" Tear filled her eyes.

"I can't take it! Everyday has sucked since you left. No one is happy and I don't know what to do!" She fell to her knees and started crying, wrapping herself in the crimson cloak her mother made. When she woke up, Qrow was carrying her back home.

"I know you're angry kiddo." He said. "It's natural. Just, if you ever need to, let it all out. Write, read, scream, anything but please, don't bottle it up and cry yourself to sleep."

"Okay." She said.

"Promise?" Qrow fished for a response but Ruby didn't promise. People shouldn't break their promises. It makes people sad when promises are broken.

 **AN: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next one will take place directly after this ending. It's also an emotional doozie. Also, for those who read my little teaser for RWBYond War (which is in chapter 12 of RWBYond Happily Ever After and 131 of RWBYond Vale) I made a fun little poll, who do you think the armored figure is? Please, review follow and favorite. And as always, stay classy.**


	17. Chapter 17

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: If you like OC role-playing, I recently became an admin for a page like that called RWBY ocRP evolved. Here's a link groups/1774782332760947/ It would be awesome to have more people join in. This chapter is inspired by a pretty okay movie called Door in the Floor. Lastly, man that trailer it was…certainly a trailer.**

Chapter 17: I Want Mom!

Qrow carried Ruby through the forests of Patch and back home safe and sound. When he walked through the door, Yang was playing on her scroll and Tai was sitting on the couch having a drink. Qrow took Ruby up to her room, motioning for Tai to follow. Yang went towards the guest room.

"I'm going to bed." She said.

"In the guest room?" Qrow asked.

"Yeah, got a problem with it?" Qrow ignored Yang's attitude.

"Fine." Qrow said. "Goodnight firecracker."

"Goodnight Yang, I love you." Tai said.

"Ditto." She shut the door.

"What's her problem?" Qrow asked.

"Just, leave Yang to me." Tai groaned.

"Leave her to…whatever Tai."

"Daddy, Uncle Qrow, I want Mom to read me a bedtime story." She said.

"She can't right now pumpkin." Tai said.

"But I wat her to!" Ruby raised her voice.

"Ruby please, just go to bed." Tai sighed.

"No!" Ruby stood up.

"Ruby please,"

"No! I want Mom!" Ruby yelled.

"Ruby you know she…" Qrow tried cutting in.

"I want Mom!" Ruby screamed. "I want Mom! I want my Mom!" Tai just put his head in his hands.

"Ruby calm down." He cried.

"Why didn't Mom come back?" She yelled. "Why did she leave us!"

"I don't know why." Tai tried forcing her back down.

"Bad things just happen." Qrow said.

"But why her? She didn't do anything wrong! She promised she'd come back and she didn't. Why did she do that?"

"Because she can't!" Tai shouted. "If she could she would have. But she's gone now and you have to accept that!"

Ruby looked at him in a mixture of confusion, anger, and sadness. Then she started crying. Tai tried calming her down but it wasn't working. Qrow didn't know what to do. He had never been around here for the bad times. Right now, he was really missing those missions from Ozpin right now. But he had decided to take a job at Signal, to help the family out, as well as oversee the last of the Argentware's training.

"But I want her too." Ruby cried. "I really…really…want her to…come back." She said between sniffles. Tai was at a loss for words. "In a story…she said…if I really want something…I can get it…That I can achieve my dreams. And I. Want. Mom!"

"What are you doing?" Yang said as she opened the door. She looked at Ruby, looked at Tai, looked at Qrow. Her eyes went red when she looked at Qrow and stayed that way when she looked back at Tai. She walked right over to Ruby, hugged her, picked her up and carried her away. "Come on Ruby, I'll read to you. I'll even do all the voices, just like mom." As she crossed the threshold of the door, she gave a sneer at the two adults and kicked the door shut.

"What am I going to do?" Tai huffed.

"Only thing you can do." Qrow took a drink from his flask. "Keep moving forward." He passed it to Tai. "This might help. But remember, you are both of their father. In the end of the day, you're their role model. Right now, you're a mess."

"Easy for you to say. The girls love you. Ruby just won't understand and Yang…you saw the way she looked at me."

"She gave me that look too." Qrow said. "Anyway, I'm heading home. I'll see you tomorrow in school."

"See you Qrow." Tai was still just sitting there staring at the picture on the dresser. It was a picture of a picnic they had. Qrow sighed, but empathy wasn't exactly something he had. He walked past the room, Yang and Ruby were in and heard them reading. Yang was reading The Hunter and the Goddess of Spring, one of Summer's favorite stories. He decided to peak his head in.

"Hey Qrow." Yang said.

"I'm leaving. See you girls around."

"Bye." Yang said.

"Love you." Ruby said.

"Take care kiddos." He shut the door. He walked out of the house and flew off to a bar. When he got there, it was the usual motley crew of drunks and saps. He fit right in. He ordered a whiskey on the rocks. He took out the picture of Team STRQ. There they were, during the Vytal Festival. Summer looking awkwardly at the camera. Tai was beaming with confidence. Qrow was doing his best to look imposing. Raven was, well, she was dangerous. She always was. That faked cocky smile would lure people in before she cut their hearts out.

He finished his first drink, then his second and third. Raven was nowhere to be seen. She wasn't even at the funeral. Tai was a mess. Ruby was right there with him. Yang was pissed, definitely in the anger part of the grieving process with no end in sight.

"Keep moving forward." His father told him that when his mother died.

"Keep moving forward." Ozpin said that when things got hectic during the Faunas War.

"Keep moving forward." Summer said it when Raven left.

Now he was the one telling everyone else to do it. Yet he was the one drowning himself in a bar. Tai wanted Ruby to move on? That was hypocritical of him. Qrow wondered if Tai had even eaten lately. Yet, he was in no position to criticize him. He couldn't move on. He could never move on. He never moved on from Summer the first time, when she broke his heart, when they were all still a team and Summer slept with him only to call it a mistake a few weeks later.

Now, all he had of her was this picture and Ruby. Everything else reminded him of Raven, or Ozpin, or his own desperation. But Ruby, she was so much like Summer yet so different. She would move on eventually. She was too much of a naturally happy person to be stopped. Maybe that's why Qrow admired the little brat. Yang and Tai were so tied into Raven, both historically and emotionally. Yang gave him dread. Tai made him sour. Ruby was sweet, like Summer's cookies. And maybe one day she'd be strong as well. That was enough to give even Qrow a little bit of hope.

 **AN: Something I'm doing with these next few chapters is that Qrow is the first person to have hope in Ruby, and Ruby is the first to give him genuine hope. Everyone else just either sees her as a kid, or as a future weapon. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review, follow and favorite.**


	18. Chapter 18

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: This is a pretty simple yet important chapter. It's my retelling of the flashback from volume 2, aka the scene that inspired my entire series. So, I'm a little nervous for this one. Also, for continuity purposes, this takes place during chapter 16, so within the first year of Summer being dead.**

Chapter 18: Finding Mom

Yang wasn't known for her patients. But the recently turned nine-year-old was determined to get answers, no matter how long it took. When she first found out that Summer wasn't her actual mother, and that that was the reason her father had shut down, she hadn't believed it. Summer did all the things a mother was supposed to do and so much more. She couldn't, she didn't want to believe it. But her father and uncle hadn't been kidding. They showed her the picture, the one of Team STRQ. Qrow talked about how Yang's eyes, how they would turn red, was because of Raven's genes. She was a Branwen, not a Rose, so her eyes turned red under stress.

Yang was half confused and the other half angry. Why would her mother abandon her like that? Why had Summer stepped in and raised her? Why did she have to? Why wasn't her mother here? If Summer was dead, then wouldn't that mean her actual mother should step in? Wasn't that the right thing to do?

They wouldn't answer her questions. Anything that had to do with Raven Branwen was to be avoided. So Yang went to the next best place. She asked around. The Glens family tree ran Patch. Nothing went on in the town without them knowing. Turns out, none of them knew Raven particularly well. But they all were willing to sing Summer's praise and give the young girl their sympathy. She didn't need sympathy, she needed answers.

Then one day, her father was in his room moping around. Yang was looking for clues in the attic while Ruby kept lookout. Then Yang heard the breaking of glass. She quickly ran from the attic to investigate and saw her father had punched through a picture frame.

"Daddy?" Ruby asked as she peaked from behind Yang.

"It's alright Ruby." He stepped from the room. "It just fell is all." Yang could tell he was lying. "Yang, can you…can you clean it up?" Yang shook her head yes and Tai went into the kitchen to get himself a drink.

As Yang picked the glass from the floor she noticed something. The picture was one of Team STRQ, during the time they all lived here, before Yang was born. For years, this and the official team photo from their days at Beacon were the only things Yang had to go on when trying to picture her mom. But there was something else behind the picture, another picture? Yes, this one was of, her real mom and dad kissing by some old barn house.

"What is that?" Ruby asked. Yang stuffed the picture into her shirt.

"I think it might be a clue to a mystery." Yang answered.

"Mystery?" Ruby said. Yang ignored her and threw the rest of the glass in the dumpster and set the team photo neatly on the dresser. She went to the bathroom to look at the new picture again. On the back it said, "The two coolest people I know…Busted-Summer Rose." Summer must've taken the picture. Which raised more questions, Summer obviously knew her mother, and talked about her as if she were the coolest. So when she left, why did Summer come in and claim the family that should have been Raven's?

She didn't take the photo to her dad or uncle. But she did take it to school one day. She asked her teacher if she recognized the building. It was simply referred to as The Old Barn House. It was a dilapidated building on the northern edge of Patch, all the way on the other side of the island. It was supposedly haunted and many people had gone missing up there over the years. Maybe, just maybe, her mother was one of them. Yang was determined to find out.

Yang bid her time after that. A few days later there was a conference at Signal, so her father and uncle would both be out of the house. Tai had left Yang in charge, a bit of authority Yang was going to abuse.

"Ruby, want to go on an adventure?" Yang said.

"Yeah, what kind of adventure?" Ruby asked as she swung around a stick like a sword.

"We're going to an old barn house somewhere else on the island." Yang said. She gathered some snacks and put them in a wagon.

"Yay, we're going on an adventure!" Ruby cheered.

Yang and Ruby started walking in the woods. Fall had just started, and the trees of Patch looked beautiful. Ruby awed at the foliage, and everything really. It's like everything they encountered was new to her. The birds, the bees, the trees, the frogs, every bit of life made her go "AW!" or "Look at that!"

A lot of time passed and Yang started getting worried. The sun was beginning to set beside her and they had eaten all the snacks. Yang had seriously underestimated the time it would take to get there. At this rate, they wouldn't get back before their father got home.

"Yang, how much further?" Ruby asked with a yawn.

"I don't know." Yang answered honestly. "If you're tired, I can carry you in the wagon."

Ruby took her up on the offer and climbed into the wagon. At least the way up to the barn house was pretty smooth with a path and everything. Overall it took them hours before Yang saw the barn in the distance.

Her heart raced in excitement. Her legs burned in anguish. She was there. She was so close to finding answers. Then she heard them. The growls and howls. Yang had never seen a Grimm before, but she knew it was trouble. She saw them in the barn, those burning red eyes. It was at that moment Yang realized just how stupid this plan was. Ruby was passed out in the wagon and she was so tired she could barely move.

There were three of them, all beowolves. They crept out of the barn. A pit formed in Yang's stomach. It was almost as if everything just got so much further. She could feel the world shifting beneath her feet. Fear consumed her. A shout resonated from inside the barn.

"Argentware!" It hissed. The beowolves pounced. Yang's life flashed before her eyes. Then, the sound of a crow and a machine. Qrow had saved her, slicing all three beowolves in half with a single swing.

"Yang." He said. "Yang!" He said again in order to get her attention. "What the hell were you thinking, coming up here?" Yang didn't know how to answer. She had almost died just seconds earlier and now she was saved. She dug in her pocket and grabbed the photo. Qrow looked at it and sighed. "Do you…have any idea what would have happened had I not shown up?"

Yang shook her head yes. "I…I would have died."

"No…not just you." He pointed to Ruby, still oblivious to the events. The way she stirred, Yang could tell she was awake. Ruby showed no emotion that indicated that she was aware of what just happened.

That's when it all dawned on Yang. She dropped to her knees. "I'm…so sorry." She said. "I just…I just wanted to find…"

"You will in your own time." Qrow said. "You still have a long life ahead of you. One day, you may find answers. But remember, this doesn't just affect you. Ruby, your father, me, we all care about you. We are all your family. You are not alone. Your actions affect all of us. Just like how your mother's actions affected all of us." He pointed back to Ruby. "Ruby wouldn't exist if not for your mother leaving. Look, I don't have all the answers." He picked her up and grabbed the wagon. "The only one who knows why your mom left is your mom. And she ain't talking."

Yang nodded into his shoulder. She couldn't stop herself from crying though. Qrow carried them all the way back home. Tai was furious but Qrow quenched his anger. Yang had learned her lesson. She had to be careful about who she got involved with her vendetta. She didn't have to give up, she just had to slow down, let the answers come to her.

 **AN: I hope I did this justice. Like I said, the flashback is one of my favorite moments of the series. On top of my usual schoolwork and daily chapters, I'm trying to squeeze in at least one more epilogue chapter before RWBYond War starts. Please review, follow and favorite.**


	19. Chapter 19

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: As much as I love this story, I really want to get it over with to move onto RWBYond War. Oh well, I have to finish this story out, especially since I'm actually advertising RWBYond War and it would be dickish for me to change the release date for it.**

Chapter 19: ZWEI!

Ten-year-old Ruby sat in her class, pencil at hand doodling an indiscernible figure in her notebook. She hated math, she was descent at it, but just because you're good at something doesn't mean you like it. Math was just so boring. The teacher didn't help any. She just kept repeating the rules with examples without actually trying to help any of the students.

The bell rang, dismissing them from class. Ruby diligently put her stuff into her backpack and shuffled out the door. She got to the door and sat on the stairs to wait for Yang to come out and walk her home. This was their schedule right now, since both their father and uncle were teachers at Signal, which usually didn't get out until way later.

In the meantime, Ruby had a handbook for the 38th Vytal Festival Tournament happening at the end of the year. It was tradition to watch it in her house every other year and Ruby had used her allowance to get a head start on it. When the tournament rolled around, Hunter's Magazine would produce a handbook. People would usually use these to gamble on who they think would win. Ruby just liked seeing the weapons and semblances, even though most of the semblances weren't published for whatever reason.

Then Pit had to show up. He was a boy in Ruby's class who was a big jerk. He had brown hair and black eyes, not at all like the typical resident of Patch, where gingers ran rampant. He was laughing with some of his friends then gave pause when he saw Ruby.

"What're you doing you silver-eyed freak?" He said.

"Waiting for my sister." Ruby grabbed her legs. Pit eyed her magazine and grabbed it. "Hey, give that back." He pushed her down.

"What are you doing with this anyway?" Pit asked.

"I bought it with my allowance." Ruby got back up and tried grabbing it but Pit jerked it away and tripped her.

"Why do you even like huntsmen?" He asked. "They're big and dumb and don't do any good. Nothing has changed."

"My parents and uncle are huntsmen. I'm going to be a huntress too."

"You? You're just a little pipsqueak." He said.

"I will be a huntress just you watch."

"I heard your mother was a huntress. I also heard she died." Pit smirked.

"Shut up and give me my book."

"Not until you say…'My name is Ruby Rose and I'm going to be a dumb huntress.' Then I'll give you back your stupid book."

"Grr." Ruby clenched her fists. "It's not stupid."

"Yeah it is, and you are too." Pit pushed her back down. "My dad says that your unle's an alcoholic and that your daddy is a loser. Just like you."

"Take it back."

"No."

"Take it back!" Ruby shouted and she tried tackling him but he moved out of the way, so she fell to the ground.

"I'm bigger than you so there's nothing you can do about it." Pit teased. Ruby felt tears well up in her eyes. "And now you're crying."

"Hey." Yang said as she walked up. "Leave her alone."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Pit said. Yang's eyes went red and she punched Pit in the face.

"I don't care if you're younger than me." She cracked her knuckles. Ruby got up and hid behind her. "No one makes my sister cry and gets away with it." Pit and his two friends ganged up on her but she kicked one of them in the nuts and head butted another one. Pit grabbed her hair, which Ruby learned at a very early age was a big no-no. Yang's body caught fire for a second as she unleashed a punch into Pit's chest, sending him flying.

"I'm telling my dad." Pit said as he got up. "Have your stupid book back freaks."

"That's right you better run." Yang looked down at Ruby as she picked her hand book back up.

"Yang!" She said.

"What?"

"You…you're on fire!" Ruby started to panic.

"But I don't…" The fire went out.

"I…I think that was your semblance." Ruby said.

"What was my semblance?" Yang raised an eyebrow. "What happened.

"Well, when they hurt you…"

"They didn't." Yang grumbled.

"Your eyes went red and your hair caught fire and you sent him flying…It was amazing!"

"Really, we have to tell dad."

So the two girls raced on home and talked about their day at school. Yang only had this year before she started at Signal. Then she'd be well on her way to being a huntress. Ruby admired her, and wished she didn't have to wait so much longer. Yang was going to be a huntress long before Ruby. Ruby, she didn't like being left behind.

"I can't wait to be a huntress." Ruby said.

"You know…if you want to fight…you should start fighting your own battles."

"What do you mean?"

"That jerk earlier…you should have just punched him like I did." Yang said.

"But I don't want to fight jerks like him. I want to fight monsters." Ruby said.

"That's not…look, I'm not going to be there to fight all of your battles. You have to learn to fight for yourself."

"I will." Ruby was determined to do that much.

They arrived at the house and waited for their father. When he got home, they excitedly caught them up on what happened. Tai was impressed, but not surprised. All members of the Long family boosted their strength under some sort of condition. Tai did it through raising his external body temperature. He had also suspected Yang's semblance would be tied to pain or damage and the anger it brings her.

"Well, I think this calls for a celebration." Tai said. "Now that we know your semblance, I can start your training. But first, a present, anything you want."

"A puppy!" Yang said instantly.

"That was fast."

"A puppy, a puppy, a puppy!" Ruby and Yang chanted together.

"Alright, alright." Tai said. "I'll get you a puppy."

So he took the girls up to a pet store. Once there, Yang and Ruby agreed on picking out a baby corgi. Because he was the second oldest in his litter, and Yang thought it would be a funny name for a dog, they named him Zwei.

 **AN: I ran out of things to say towards the end. Originally, this was just going to be about the bullies and Yang discovering her semblance. Then I realized, I have no Zwei in my outline. So I had to fix that. Please review, follow and favorite.**


	20. Chapter 20

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: We're coming down to the wire on this story. These last few chapters focus more on Ruby's training and realizing her goals of becoming a huntress. So this 'arc' actually works in a lot of the same way that RWBYond Destiny and RWBYond Human.**

Chapter 20: Petals Behind You

Qrow scratched his head as Ruby stumbled to the ground once again. Tai was across the yard working with Yang. He had decided to personally oversee Yang's training sense Yang's semblance and abilities were perfectly tailored too hand-to-hand and Tai's abilities with that style were well known across Remnant and he had never lost a fist fight.

Qrow on the other hand was more of a weapon specialist. He was proficient with any weapon and preferred a broadsword in typical situations. His scythe was made specifically for targets he wanted to keep at a distance and his whole weapon was designed to be nigh impossible to actually defend against. So, Tai had asked him to train the weapon enthused Ruby.

Tai had taught both girls early on about aura. He had unlocked their aura at age ten, so that they can get used to using it before they really start training. From there, they would train them in various styles to see which stuck, and of course unlock their semblance. Qrow had yet to officially discover Ruby's semblance. But he had a really good guess. Ozpin had told him that many in the Rose family had a semblance of speed, scatter to be exact.

Sadly, Ruby just was not getting it. She was built like her mother. Yet, she saw what her sister and dad were doing and wanted to be like them now. Qrow wasn't even using his weapon as Ruby tried boxing him. He didn't need it. Every time she would throw a punch he would either block it, which would do absolutely nothing, or he would dodge it and shake his head as she fell to the ground.

"That's enough Ruby." Qrow said. "Let's take a break." She looked at him disappointedly, tears welling up in her eyes. As they sat down he passed her a juice box.

"What am I doing wrong?" She said sorrowfully. Zwei barked and ran up to her. She grabbed the dig and held him close.

"Well for starters, you're trying to bully me over. That's not going to work out, especially for someone like you." Qrow said as he took a drink from his flask.

"I just…I've tried everything." Ruby curled up into a ball.

"You're only eleven Ruby. You still got time." Qrow reached over and pet Zwei causing him to pant.

"Next year Yang's going to have her own weapon and it's going to be super awesome and I'm still going to be here not knowing what to do!" She fumed. Zwei could probably sense her feelings, which is why he started licking her face.

"Well, can't expect to get everything at once. We don't even know your semblance yet."

"That's another thing…" Ruby fumed.

"Yang didn't discover hers until last year." Qrow cut her off. "Look, everything we do, is an extension of who we are. Our soul, our aura, our weapon, all of it." Qrow said.

"Hmm." Ruby said.

"Why are you so concerned about keeping up with Yang?" He asked purposefully.

"Because…" Ruby slumped back. "I know she doesn't want to have to baby me all the time. I want her to be happy. I want her to be able to go off and not have to worry about me."

"Hm." Qrow messed Ruby's hair. "She'll always worry about you. It's what siblings do. At least when they aren't sure where they're at." Qrow spoke from experience but was careful. As far as Ruby knew, Raven was just his sister and nothing more. Ruby didn't know about the truth, that Raven was Yang's mother.

"I guess you're right." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "I just want to be like those heroes in the books she reads to me. They are brave and noble and don't need anybody constantly watching their back. They are cool, and they always save the day and make it better."

Qrow didn't respond. He couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth. The world was very similar to a fairy tale, yes. But there were no heroes. Not real ones anyway. Even people as noble as Summer had their price. Most huntsmen didn't want to fight Grimm, they wanted to take advantage of the freedom a hunter's license gave them.

"Because I know just how bad things can get." Ruby sighed. She stood up straight. "The world needs people who are willing to do the right thing no matter what. People like my mom. Now that she's gone, I have to do this. It's what she would want, for me to do whatever I can to help people."

"Your mom, would want you to be happy." Qrow said. Ruby's words had caught him by surprise, but he should have figured something like that was kicking around in there. The world had never done her any favors to make her want to protect it.

"Well, helping people makes me happy."

"But people aren't always nice."

"Well maybe if someone were nice to them despite that, they would change." Qrow held back a laugh at Ruby's reasoning. Maybe she was right. The question was, will she maintain this path, or lose hope? Summer had put her faith in people and lost. Qrow had put his faith in other things and lost some but won others.

"I want you to run laps." Qrow said. "One last training exercise. It's important to keep up your cardio."

"Uh-huh." Ruby nodded. She set Zwei down and began running.

"Faster Ruby, you expect to make it running so slow?" He pushed her buttons. "When your mom was that age she could run twice that speed…. Even Yang can run faster than you." He could see with each passing lap that Ruby was growing more and more tired. "Come on, how can you expect to save people if you can't even catch…." Qrow ate his words as she screamed in anger and disappeared in a cloud of red rose petals. An instant later she smashed into a tree on the other side of the yard.

"Ruby!" Tai said shocked as he rushed over to her. Qrow wore a self-satisfied smirk as he strutted over to her side.

"What was that?" Ruby said in a daze. She was holding her head where she had impacted the tree.

"That, pipsqueak, was your semblance." He put a hand on her head, causing her to blush.

"Thank you Uncle Qrow…for believing in me."

"Always."

 **AN: Now, Ruby has her semblance. Next chapter is one I've been dreading. It's something I said in RWBYond Vale, that I almost just want to skip. I have no idea how I'm going to write it. You'll just have to see what it is next time. In the meantime, review, follow, favorite and read and review my other stories if you haven't already.**


	21. Chapter 21

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: I said last chapter that this is a tough one for me to do. I'm not good at writing arguments, which is a core thrust of this chapter, and I want to get it to a certain point but without knowing how it would get to that.**

Chapter 21: Mommy Issues

This was the point that Tai had been dreading. Yang was now a full blown teenager. Tai didn't grow up with a lot of girls so he had no idea what to do. He took advice where he could, from Daisy, Qrow, the other girls and parents around town. None of it really helped.

Yang wouldn't listen to him. She got angry more easily. She had become more aggressive in their training sessions. Luckily she was able to blow off a lot of steam now that she was at Signal, but so much of it still carried over at home. Tai didn't know how to deal with it, especially at first when Yang freaked out about her first time of the month.

Tai was thankful that she chose to express herself through fist fights instead of, say, chasing after boys. Luckily he and Qrow could both cut imposing figures, and all the boys that had any interaction with Yang, were also students of Signal. Apparently, to Tai's benefit, trying to hit on someone as violent as Yang who had a father and uncle directly responsible for their academic future wasn't a good idea.

Yang had realized this early on. She was obviously attracted to boys, but had no desire to date anyone from Patch. She wanted out of this town as soon as possible. She wanted to travel the world and have crazy adventures. She told Ruby that much, and Ruby told Tai when he was worrying about Yang becoming flirtatious in school.

After that he swore she was doing it just to mess with him. She would flirt with boys, right in front of him, and lead them on only to see the look on their face when she cut them loose. Obviously this gave her a reputation of being a, as Ruby put it, a poopy head. Tai highly doubted that was the way the teenage boys but it.

Yang didn't seem to talk to anyone, not to express her true feelings anyway. Tai used to think that Yang was always going to be his little girl, now the only one who didn't smart off to him was Ruby, and she barely talked to him. If Tai didn't know any better, he would suspect she was more Qrow's kid than his.

"Yang." Tai knocked on the door.

"What do you want?" Yang said from the other side of the door.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure, whatever." She said. He walked in and saw her put her headphones down. Tai's hear sank as he looked at her golden mane of a hair. Long gone were the girly pony tails. She now wore her hair like Raven's. Tai didn't know exactly why, only that she was rebelliously determined to find Raven someday.

"Where's Ruby?"

"How should I know?" She was more focused on drawing in her notebook. She always an artistic kid, Ruby too, but the younger sibling was clearly more into drawing cartoons than actually drawing anything realistic.

"So, what're you drawing?" He asked.

"I'm designing my weapon." That's right. She had to make her weapon next year. He took a peak at it and saw that it was indeed a pair of gauntlets. That made Tai happy. Just then, someone came through the door.

"Dad! Yang!" Ruby called followed by Zwei's bark.

"There she is." Yang said.

"Yang come look at this." Ruby called out. Tai went to the living room where Ruby sat with Zwei.

"Where were you at?" Tai asked. Yang followed close behind him.

"So…I went to take Zwei for a walk and we went to see Mom and I introduced Zwei to Mom and while I sat there I just so happened to have my note pad and so I drew this picture. It made me happy but also sad to think that Zwei never got to actually see Mom and I drew a picture of all of us together." She went at ninety miles an hour telling her story.

She showed Yang the picture. It showed Ruby, Yang, Tai, Qrow, Summer and Swei all together looking happy. Yang looked at the picture longingly and grit her teeth. Her eyes flashed red for an instant as she tossed the paper away.

"Stupid." She said.

"Hey!" Ruby whined.

"Don't you get it Ruby? Summer is not coming back."

"Summer?" Ruby said. "You mean Mom?"

"Yeah, your mom."

"Yang." Tai tried stopping her.

"No!" She shrugged him off. "I'm tired of this."

"What are you talking about?" Ruby said.

"Your mom isn't coming back. She's dead Ruby, don't you get that. There's no ghost, nothing on that Cliffside except a hunk of rock!"

"Don't say things like that!"

"Why not?"

"Because it's mean and mom lives on in our hearts."

"You don't actually believe that do you?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because stuff like that isn't real."

"Yang!" Tai raised his voice.

"Your mom is not coming back, she's not here with you or any of us."

"Why are you saying that?" Ruby said with increasing distress.

"Because she's not my mom!"

"Yes she…"

"No, my mom is Raven!" He eyes went red. "See? Summer never cared about me, she just put up with me for dad's sake."

"That's not true." Tai tried cutting in.

"And one day I'm going to find my real mom and leave this place!" Yang shouted. Ruby's face twisted in pain and she disappeared in rose petals to her room and slammed the door.

"Ruby!" Tai didn't bother following her, he knew he'd never manage it. "Yang, you're in big trouble."

"Why? She deserves to learn the truth."

"There's a time and a place."

"You can't keep babying her."

"I WILL NOT be talked down to like that by my own thirteen-year-old daughter."

"Then maybe you should have actually been there for her. I'm the only one who has been there for Ruby the entire time. Summer died, you shut down, Qrow doesn't even live here and he's been more of a father for her than you."

"And what? You think that gives you he right to make decisions like this? Ruby loves you. She's your sister. She still wants to be a happy family and there's nothing wrong with that."

"There is when that family doesn't exist."

"Go to your room…actually go to the guest room, you're grounded." Tai put his foot down and Yang stormed off.

"Fine!"

Tai looked down and sighed deeply. He walked to the girls' room where Ruby was sniffling from the other side. He didn't even bother knocking on the door. He was curled up into a ball on her bed, her picture at her side and a photo album clung to her chest.

"Ruby?" He leaned down at her side.

"I…" Ruby sniffed out. "I think…I always knew…especially with the way she's been wearing her hair, and how her eyes turn red…. I just…I just didn't want to believe it…that Yang could be see Mom… so much worse… than I do." She said between sniffs.

"I know." Tai rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Dad, I…I don't want you to be sad anymore." She started crying harder now. "I can't take you being sad anymore…or Yang being angry…or…or…" She couldn't finish. "I wish Mom was here."

"I do too." Tai said. "I do too."

"How could Yang hate Mom?" Ruby said in distress after a minute of crying, she seemed to be calming own though.

"She doesn't…she better not anyway. If anything she's mad at her mom, for leaving her. More so I think, it's because Raven never came back, not once. Even when Summer died, prime time for her to return and take responsibility, to do for you what your mom did for Yang, and she didn't. She hasn't so much as called or wrote a birthday card."

"Uncle Qrow knew…didn't he?" Ruby started to relax.

"Of course…Raven is his sister after all. They were twins once upon a time. They were even more inseparable than you and Yang. When she left, he took it the hardest. We…we actually knew it was coming. She made it clear the entire time she was pregnant with Yang, that she was only staying long enough to give birth and then leaving. We all had time to prepare. Even if we didn't, I had too much responsibility to just shut down."

"Then why did you shut down when Mom left?" Ruby accused.

"I…I'm so sorry Ruby." He wrapped his arms around her and sunk his head into her side. "I…I didn't know what to do. Your mom, is what kept me afloat when Raven left. I didn't have anyone to help me after she was gone. Qrow helped as he could but…you know." Ruby nodded. "So, what album is that?" Tai hadn't seen it.

"I found it in the attic." She leaned up and opened it. "All the pictures are old…but I think this was grandmas." She pointed to a baby picture that was labeled First minutes of Summer. Tai recognized a few of the people in the album. There were some other pictures of them around the house. "Mommy, lost her parents when she was a little girl too." Ruby noted. "If she became so strong with the people she had, I can do the same."

"Well, I'd be proud of you regardless. But I know you'll be a great hero someday. You have so much love and care in your heart to give. Like mother like daughter."

 **AN: I think that turned out rather well actually. There's a lot to unpack with this chapter. A lot of call backs to STRQ and other RWBYond stories and even another semi-name drop of Violet Rose (can't wait to do that story). Hope you enjoyed, if you did leave a review.**


	22. Chapter 22

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: It's been a long day for me. Luckily this chapter is a short little first day of school type chapter, but different than last time because it's Signal. We are getting close to the end of this story.**

Chapter 22: Signal of Hope

Ruby couldn't hardly sleep. She was way too excited. The morning would bring with it the first page of a new chapter in her life. Signal was among the first preliminary combat schools in the world. It may not be the most well-renown or prestigious, but it was a solid school. The only problem was that Patch was such a small island and small town and most of the people who went to Signal became farmers and merchants, using their combat training to defend their rural homes from Grimm.

Ruby didn't care about any of that. Everything she knew was on Patch. Her father and uncle were teachers at Signal. Yang was in her third year at the school and even had her own uniquely designed weapon. Ruby couldn't wait to make her own weapon at be at the end of next year. This year her combat training was finding something that fit.

"Ruby." Yang said. Ruby shot up and landed in her school clothes. "Wow, you have been ready for this."

"Of course I am!" Ruby said. "I've been dreaming about this day my whole life. Just four years of Signal then it's onto Beacon and then I'll be a huntress."

"That's still eight years." Yang said. She was brushing her hair.

"I know." Ruby said. "But that's a lot closer than when I first started dreaming of this." Yang finished her hair and makeup in the vanity and sat Ruby down.

"I'm going to doll you up for your first day." Yang declared.

"Yaaaang." Ruby whined. "I'm the way I am."

"Uh, yeah, no." Yang forced her down and brushed her hair. "Dang, your hair is so thick. It could probably catch bullets." Yang giggled. "That would be quite the hairy situation."

"Heh." Ruby started giggling. She loved that Yang had become a more upbeat person these last two years. She used to be really nice some days and really mean on others. Now she was just nice.

"Aww, my baby sister looks so beautiful!" Yang wrapped her arms around Ruby from behind and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks." Ruby said.

"So, Ruby, remember not to sound too eager to get Signal over with. You'll be there with people you already know for the next four years. So you have to be patient and you have to be nice."

"I am nice."

"Yeah, when you actually decide to interact with people."

"Gah, I don't need to interact with people there."

"They're going to be your classmates for the next four years."

"So? Then I'll be going to Beacon and most of them probably aren't coming with."

"That doesn't mean you should just ignore them."

"I'm not going to ignore them. If they want to talk to me, that's fine. I'm just not going to go out of my way to make friends with people I probably won't even like."

"You won't know if you like them until you talk to them for a bit." Ruby crossed her arms and started walking away. "Ruby, your whole life you've been cooped up here in this house. The only people you ever talk to is me and Uncle Qrow, sometimes Dad. Doesn't that get boring?"

"Well, yeah but…" Ruby looked down. "I'm just not a people person…I'm not like you…interacting with people…listening to the other girls talk about boys and dresses and jewelry…it's exhausting and I hate it."

"I understand." Yang sighed. "Let's get going."

Ruby and Yang walked to Signal and parted ways. Ruby grabbed her schedule and found her locker. Her first class was homeroom, where she basically did nothing but sit down and read. After that she had P.E. with Coach Brown. This was the first important class, meant to build up people's physicality. Ruby was already a pretty fit kid so she knew she would do well. But it was here that she realized how much was on her plate.

"You're Tai and Summer's daughter." Coach Brown said. "I'll be expecting big things from you."

Ruby had just nodded. The other kids did not look at her lightly though. Her father and uncle were teachers and her mother and that side of the family were local legends. Everyone seemed to know that except Ruby before now. This just painted a massive target on her back.

The next few classes after that were common core type classes. Her father taught English and basics of combat. It was so weird having him teach her English in a class room setting. Sure, he was the one who taught her how to speak, but it was relieving to see him treat her like he did everyone else. He didn't even seem to acknowledge that she was his daughter. Apparently he learned his lesson when Yang started Signal.

Same went for Qrow who taught both history and weapon mechanics, a class Ruby wouldn't have for another year. Though, whereas Tai had played off his relation to Ruby, Qrow came down on her hard. He made an example of her, putting her down the first day of class. It made Ruby a little sick to her stomach to be called out like that, but apparently he was holding her to a higher standard than the other classmates.

After math, science and music, it was time for the real lessons. combat basics was the only combat class for freshman. For second years, combat basics was replaced with combat skills and P.E. replaced with weapon mechanics. But once again, Ruby was regretting getting such a head start on things. Sure, all her training with Uncle Qrow had paid off but she was well ahead of what her Dad was teaching for this class.

In all reality, she should have probably been in combat skills, not basics. So she thought, until she volunteered to spar with a kid named Vid. Vid had been in all of her classes, and had grown noticeably agitated at Ruby. So when they both volunteered to show what they knew, he didn't hold back, and he beat Ruby handedly. Ruby was a little embarrassed. But she was also thankful. She felt a massive blast of relief being knocked down first. It was like she no longer had to keep face like she was some inheritor of legend. In the end, Vid helped her back on her feet.

"Good spar Rose." He said.

"Vid, right?" He nodded. "Yeah, good fight."

"I wish Signal was bigger." He said. "Maybe then, they could offer more variety of combat classes for people like us, who are way too good for this but not good enough for the next level."

"Yeah, maybe." Ruby said. "So, I haven't seen you around before. You must be new to Patch."

"Yep, my…my village was destroyed by Grimm a while back. We've been moving from town to town before finally settling here. So, your family are supposed to be some kind of local legends?"

"Patch was formed by the Rose and Glens families a long time. My family in particular, have a long history of being hunters. Not that it ever helped them." Ruby said that last part bitterly. The bell rang, dismissing the students from class. "I'll see you around."

"Yeah, it was nice meeting you."

Ruby went to her dad and waited on Yang to show up. After she did, they headed on home. When Yang heard about the boy that beat Ruby she got a little mad, but upon hearing what followed she started smirking.

"See, I told you you'd make friends."

 **AN: I had to do a lot of thinking for how a combat school would work. Also, don't read too much into Vid, I just wanted someone to be one of Ruby's friends that she mentions in volume 1. Though, he may make an appearance in another story. I literally just thought of this, but if he continued wanting to be a huntsman, he would have been one of the people in Ren and Nora's classes in RWBYond Happily Ever After.**


	23. Chapter 23

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: Something that bugs me about what we know about Ruby from what she's said is that she was complete garbage before Qrow took her under his wing. Yet, she uses the most impractical weapon in the world. So, here's a little workaround from that. Thankfully I always wrote Ruby as dickishly stubborn.**

Chapter 23: Under Wing

Qrow could see that Ruby was a hot mess. Everyone probably could. Her grades were slipping and her combat rating was pretty close to the bottom of her class. She just refused to learn her lesson. She was strong and ungodly fast…faster than Qrow even. She lacked discipline, she rushed in and tried bullying them over like her sister and dad. Whenever he would work on her katas she'd grab the biggest buster sword she could get her hands on.

Qrow had an empty slot in his schedule during Ruby's combat skills class, taught by Tai. So Qrow had made it a habit to sit in on that class while he ate lunch, and maybe give some students pointers whenever they needed the extra help. They were working on some weapon katas, which wasn't exactly Tai's strength as a teacher so he appreciated the help.

Now Ruby was lying face down in the mud after tripping herself with a bow staff. Qrow's hand went to his face. One or two of the students were laughing, most of the others just gave her dirty looks. Some prodigy she was. Wasn't she supposed to be some hot-shots daughter? They weren't saying it, but they were thinking it.

"Get up." Qrow said. She looked at him something fierce. That wasn't really a Summer look, that was all Yang's influence. "It's been weeks now Ruby. If you aren't comfortable with that weapon, try something else."

"Come on Ruby." Tai said. "Try again. Take it slow." He walked over to Qrow. "Keep going, practice makes perfect." He reached Qrow's side. "You're the weapon expert, what's your synopsis?"

"Well…going by her grade in my class she won't have to worry about not being able to make whatever works for her." Qrow said. Her mechanics grade was immeasurably high. He thought of grading her on a massive curve just to make it fair. "Her semblance is speed and she's aggressive. She wants to crush her opponents but lacks the physique for a hammer or a mace. An axe would probablt work best for her, or a halberd like her mom. She'll definitely have a gun on it to boost herself, that much she's adamant about."

"We've tried her with the halberd." Tai said. "She puts too much emphasis on the downward swing."

Qrow's ears perked at that. Halberds were defensive weapons. Someone with high speed could use it to cut, bash and hack without breaking stride. That's why Summer used it. An axe, which is what her grandmother used worked the same way but for more aggressive fighters, it wasn't as defensive. Ruby's issue, from what Qrow had seen, was accuracy. She was simply to overwhelmed by her own semblance to make any kind of accurate strike with an axe. Halberds have better range, but if she put too much emphasis on the heavy attacks, or lacked the strength to drive it into Grimm armor then…

"Scythe." Qrow said. His was a very niche weapon. It was meant for those with high speed who can get around a group and scoop them all up. When caught in its range, it was nearly impossible to actually defend against.

"We don't have anything…"

"I'll handle it tonight." Qrow said. Tai gave him a dirty look.

"Just, remember what she is to us." He said. "I don't like feeling jealous about the two of you."

"I know." Qrow said. The two of them went around to the students to help them adjust. Qrow walked over to Ruby. "I'll be giving you some extra help. If you want it that is."

"I do." Ruby looked at him with grim determination.

"Alright." Qrow parted for his classroom as that class ended. He still had a few hours left before school was out, and the rest of his schedule was pact. Namely a certain blonde niece's dust ammunition class. It was important for those with weapons to know how to get ammo for it. All weapons in Signal were custom made, and a good ninety-five percent of huntsmen weapons were the same. However, various parts were stock, like loading mechanisms, barrels, gears etc. So, one would have to either find or custom make ammunition that worked for all their parts. That's what this class was for.

After the day was done, Qrow went and grabbed dinner. He thought of what he could do to help Ruby, and he went through all the information he had gathered. After dinner he went to the mill and found a large garden scythe for sail. Patch was a farming community so it wasn't hard to find one outside of the school.

"What?" Ruby said when he arrived with the tool.

"Ruby, I think I know the perfect weapon for you." He handed her the scythe and did a rundown of basics she would need to know. Use her speed, scoop up enemies etc. He pulled out his own scythe to demonstrate.

She stumbled over herself at first, would have gutted herself if not for aura. That was to be expected from something as clunky as a scythe. The good news was; she was getting the hang of it. Qrow's heart skipped a beat the first time she slammed the scythe into the ground and made a gunshot noise, signifying exactly where she wanted the gun.

Her right hand instinctively went to the small handle on the side as she swung again. She was mimicking Qrow's moves and…even improving on them for her own weaker frame and simpler scythe. Sure, she was probably better off with a sword or a knife but…Qrow had been around long enough to know that when a type of weapon calls to you it's foolish to ignore it.

Maybe this was fate. Qrow had always loved Summer and lamented how she never loved him back, even though she tried for a while. Qrow couldn't see himself happy with anyone else…not the way she was so happy with Tai. Now, looking at Ruby, taking so much from him, he wished she was his. Maybe this was whatever divine entity's way of making him happy. It was then that Qrow knew that he didn't need a woman in his life, or kids, because Ruby was the only thing he ever needed to fill that void.

 **AN: That was a cute ending. I love the "Qrow had unrequited love for Summer and sees Ruby as a surrogate daughter" dynamic. I also love getting into the technical aspects of how everything in RWBY works. There were a couple chapters in RWBYond Vale where I just explained how certain things work. I love chapters like that. Be sure to review, follow and favorite.**


	24. Chapter 24

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: This story is coming to a close. Technically, this is the last real chapter. Next chapter is the Red Trailer and the last one is an epilogue with Ozpin. I've enjoyed writing this story. I'm glad I decided to go this long with it. As a side note, my profile has been exploding lately with new followers and favorites. Thank you, all of you.**

Chapter 24: Crescent Rising

It was final exam day at Signal. Tai sat in his chair as the second year students worked diligently to make their weapons. Yang's final exam would be the next day with a simple combat exercise against a couple robotic Grimm test dummies. Patch, sadly didn't have anyone like Port who could bring in the real deal so these machines would have to do the trick. Thankfully, they were made by Rhubarb Snappes. Speaking of which, his son Rubrum was here observing, having just completed his third year at Beacon.

Qrow paced around the room examining each student's craftsmanship. Tai was there simply to judge and grade, along with the other professors. Ruby worked away at her weapon, which she had been working on for weeks. After completing another round, Qrow walked back and had a seat next to Tai.

"Ready for the semester to be over?" Tai asked.

"Yep." Qrow's hand went up his pocket and Tai slapped his hand.

"You can wait a few more minutes." Tai said.

"Hm." Qrow grumbled. "I have an assignment from Ozpin." He said.

"What and when?" Tai asked.

"Got to go to Mistral and meet up with Amber." He leaned back. "And I leave right after the graduation ceremony."

"But you'll miss Yang's party."

"I'll catch her before she goes off to Beacon in the spring." Qrow assured.

"You better…I don't want to be responsible for the hell she gives you if you don't." Tai said. "Hey Rubrum, come here for a minute." The gengineer, as Yang had cracked once, came down to meet them. "You're practically a huntsman now right?"

"Well, still have one year at Beacon." Rubrum nervously turned the dial on his goggles.

"So which path are you taking?" Tai asked, knowing fourth years pick a variety of tasks to do internships with their senior year.

"My team and I will actually be heading to Vacuo." Rubrum said. "My team leader was, was quite adamant about investigating a disappearance that happened there some time ago."

"West End?" Qrow said.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Rubrum said shocked.

"Call it a lucky guess." Qrow said.

"Anyway, Ruby seems to be going a little overboard." Rubrum said.

"That's my girl." Tai smiled.

"It's about the only way to make a scythe useful in various situations." Qrow said.

"Yeah, I read that even Necros Faust called them a pointless weapon." Rubrum gave an awkward laugh.

"They still have you read papers from that psychopath?" Qrow said.

"Uh…you assigned some of his articles for Ruby just last week." Tai corrected. Qrow squinted his eyes. Dang it, that meant he had somehow gotten buzzed during the school day. If Tai didn't know he was an impressively functioning alcoholic he'd call him out right here.

"So I did." He grumbled.

Tai's attention was taken as Ruby set her screwdriver down. She whipped the sweat from her brow and popped her knuckles. She lifted the oversized garden tool over her head and gave it a few practice swings. All the other students were long done and waiting to be evaluated. Tai went to Ruby first.

"Dad…" She looked at him bashfully. "This is Crescent Rose."

"You already named her?" Tai took it from her hand to test its durability.

"She's my baby." She said. "So I wanted it to take my name…just like how I took Mom's name." Tai's heart skipped a beat. He handed it back to her and she demonstrated the shifting mechanisms. "I know you'd be happier if I was able to be a brawler like you and Yang."

"Ruby, I'm proud of you just the way you are. You are your own person. You're not your mother or me, and you definitely aren't Yang or your Uncle." Ruby nodded as she changed the weapon back into a scythe.

"The scythe blade doubles as a mono pod." She changed it into its gun form. "But it's faster to fire from the hip like this." She cocked back the bolt action mechanism. "Obviously it's also less accurate that way." She grabbed her magazine and slip it in. "None of the gears interfere with the loading or firing mechanisms. All they do is change barrel size." She extended the weapon again. "And the blade folds into the stock." The blade extended further. "And this is 'war scythe mode' because a scythe isn't the most practical of weapon so giving it a spear like mode should help with that."

Ruby stepped last in line to demonstrate her weapon's gun mode. Tai took the time to talk to other students and examine their weapons. Tai wasn't sure if it was pride, or truth but Ruby's was his favorite. The autumn breeze caused her cape to take flight as she stepped out into the firing range. She shot the targets with relative ease before switching her gun form to take out the moving targets. She quickly reloaded and started again.

After she demonstrated her weapon's capabilities, she turned and gave a quick bow. Sense she was the last one, she headed off towards the door, awaiting her evaluation. Tai wasn't surprised that none of the teachers gave her less than a nine. The ones that gave her a nine, probably did just on the basis of it being a scythe and scythes being really impractical as weapons. It was funny that one of them had the gall to say it was a better scythe than Qrow's. She amended her statement by saying that Qrow's sword mode gave his weapon the edge.

"Well Ruby." Qrow said. "You passed with flying colors."

"Yes!" She cheered. Tai thought she'd be more excited, but this was her 'of course I freaking nailed it; who do you think I am?' tone of voice.

Tai, Ruby, Yang and Qrow walked hoe. Ruby showed off her baby to Yang who oohed and awed at it, just like Ruby had done two years earlier when Yang had made Ember Celica. Two years ago. That's when it set it for Tai that his girls were growing up. He only had a few more months with Yang before she left to Beacon and before he would know it, Ruby would be doing the same, leaving him alone in that house. A house that wasn't even rightfully his. It was Summer's and her mother's and her father's before her. It wasn't called the Xiao Long or the Season house, it was the Rose house.

At that moment, Tai felt really old, and really tired. At least he'd have Zwei. Ruby was at least the sentimental type. She'd probably move back in when she was done at Beacon. They'd probably both visit too. Patch was just outside Vale, and the whole island was smaller than the city itself.

They wouldn't just leave him. Not like Raven and Summer did. They would always be his little girls, no matter how old or strong they got. They were his light. They gave him hope every day that the world was going to be better thanks to them.

 **AN: Another bittersweet chapter from yours truly. I really like the way I've made Tai 'just a dude' in my stories, at least when compared to the big parts the other members of STRQ have played in the fate of Remnant. Hope you enjoyed and leave a review.**


	25. Chapter 25

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: Just two more chapters and this story is complete. This is going to be a pretty strait forward chapter. It's the Red Trailer. Or at least my interpretation of it. I think there was another fanfiction, can't for the life of me remember which one, that gave me this idea. Anyway, hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 25: Red Like Roses

"What…you can't go, you just got back!" Ruby whined.

"I know kid, but a lot of things are going on that I need to take care of." Qrow said.

It was the day of Winter Solstice. The holiday cheer should have been all around. Though, this holiday was always a sobering reminder of what Ruby had lost. Summer had left on this holiday and never came back. Qrow had just gotten back from a mission a few days ago, looking rather gravely.

"What's so important?" Ruby said.

"Things didn't go well on my last mission." Qrow said. "I need to follow up and get these bad guys."

"Well that can wait at least another day." Ruby tried arguing.

"No, it can't." Qrow said. "I have to do this, there's a big scary thing out there and I need to find it." He tried opening the door but Ruby dashed with her semblance and slammed it shut.

"That's what Mom said." She looked at him with fire in her eyes.

"You might want to look on your scary face." Qrow laughed. "Look, I'm not going to look for a fight."

"As if." Tai said crossing his arms.

"I'm only going to get information. Real covert spy stuff. I'm sorry but I can't explain it to you."

Ruby let up and allowed him to open the door. Before she could even tell him goodbye he was gone, flying away in his bird form. Her father walked over to put a hand on her shoulder but she ran out the door.

"Ruby!"

"I'll be back soon." She said. She made sure she had Crescent Rose with her before she left. She needed to blow off some steam. Too bad Yang was currently bumming around Vale with her friends. She still had a few months before school started, but she was using them to get to know Vale a little better. But Ruby suspected she was also using that time to search for her own answers.

Everyone was gone. Wo knew when Qrow, if Qrow would ever be back. Yang had made it clear that she isn't exactly going to be around much anymore. So it was just her Dad, and Zwei. She didn't want that. Every time she was stuck with her dad it had been suffocating. He coddled her and sheltered her like she was some delicate flower. Yang was the only one that talked to her honestly. Qrow was the only one who kept pushing her. Well, there was someone else, but she wasn't around, so Ruby had to go to her.

"Mom?" She said as she arrived on the cliff where her mother's marker was. She came here often when she needed alone time or someone to talk to that wasn't able to judge.

'What is it child?' She imagined her mother saying. Ruby got chills. She squatted down and kept her hood up to protect from the cold wind.

"Qrow's gone." She said. "He left on some stupid mission."

'I'm sure he's doing what needs to be done.'

"I know, it's just why now?"

'Heroes don't get to choose when they are called. You know that.'

"Of course I do."

'If it makes you feel any better, I'll do what I can to watch over him.'

"Thank you. I really needed to hear that." Reality set in on Ruby. "I wish I could actually hear your voice. It's been so long I can hardly remember it. All I have left are the pictures and the few home videos we have."

'I'm sorry Ruby.'

"Are you even capable of seeing how I feel?" A tear went down Ruby's eye. "You know that nursery rhyme you would sing to me. I…I added to it." She got her scroll out and read the lyrics. She showed the visage of her mother, the one she always imagined. But Ruby couldn't see her face, only the red and white cloak. She played the lyrics out in her head, too upset and cold to actually sing them.

Then Ruby imagined her mother. She could see her face, for the first time ever, just like in the Team STRQ picture Qrow carried around. The ghost responded in kind. Ruby's body was warmed at the loving thoughts and words she gave her mother. But it didn't help. As the two divergent thoughts met together, the ghost turned her back on Ruby.

'You're not the only one who needed me, I thought you understood.' The ghost said as it walked away.

"You were the one I needed and you left me as I always feared you would." Ruby retorted in rhyme. They were no longer thoughts or ideas. Ruby thought she was going crazy. Here she was, arguing with her own mental image of her mother.

'Would I change it if I could?'

"It doesn't matter now. The petals scatter now. Every nightmare just discloses it's your blood that's red like roses."

'Ruby.'

"And no matter what I do nothing ever takes the place of you!" The ghost disappeared. Ruby just swallowed and let the emptiness and sadness set in. She walked slowly to her house, but on the way, she heard growls. A large group of beowolves had gathered in the frozen field. Well, Ruby needed to blow off steam. She let her emotions over her mother and uncle get the better of her. Now she had to deal with the effect, Grimm were attracted to negative emotions. It was enough to make them dangerous but not enough to make them predictable.

Ruby had plenty of time for this. She scattered into the air as the first one pounced. She channeled her aura into her gun and shot the beast's head clean off. So, this was what it felt like to kill a Grimm. For the first time ever, she felt at home. She had always dreamed of being a huntress. Now, as she flipped around blasting monsters she felt so alive. This was a dream come true.

She unfurled her scythe and bisected a Grimm. This was where she belonged. Alone, out in a field, just her against the evils of the world. These monsters were far beneath her. It was common knowledge that the beowolves of Patch were bottom feeders, the weakest Grimm for a thousand miles. That was fine, she was only fifteen anyway. She still had six years before she got a hunting license. Then she'd be free. Free to go around the world saving lives and killing monsters.

As she massacred the Grimm, one after another without breaking a sweat, she was a little concerned. If it was this easy, why even bother. She had to tell herself that there were single Grimm that could do the same to this pack. Wouldn't that ne exciting.

By the time it was over, she had used up both her clips. She had used everything in her arsenal. The adrenaline running through her body calmed down as the shell casings descended into the snow. Afer that she returned home.

"Where have you been?" Tai said.

"Out." She responded.

"I heard gun fire. Is everything…"

"I'm fine! It was just a warm up anyway."

"Ruby, what's wrong?"

"Nothing…I just…I don't like being cooped up here. I…I think I'm going crazy."

"I know." He said. "I was actually thinking…that we can spend a week in Vale before Yang starts school. You know, as a family."

"I'd like that." Ruby said.

"Hmm, this restlessness, you definitely didn't get it from your mom. When I was your age I'd run away from home all the time and go to the arcade, or park, or anywhere just to get out of the house."

"That's cool." Ruby said. "Anyway, I'm going to take a shower."

"Alright." Her father said. "We're having ham tonight. Also, I rented a new video game."

"Thank you…I'll see you in a bit."

 **AN: I had no idea how to end that chapter. I didn't want to do anything risqué or anything like that. So, we finally got inside Ruby's head while she talks to her mom. That's something I've been hinting at for a while. Might come into play later…just kidding…or am I? Please review, follow and favorite.**


	26. Chapter 26

RWBYond Hope

 **AN: This is the final chapter of RWBYond Hope. It's been a good run, lots of emotion in this story. On a similar tangent, I don't know how to write Qrow. I have my own interpretation of him, but I feel like it's not…really like a canon Qrow. I know it's been like 200 chapters since I started writing him, oh well. What do you think? Also, to address the Guest, Ruby doesn't dislike Tai, she's just a teenager having a really moody day. She is however, closer with Qrow than Tai, which…yeah read into that what you may.**

Chapter 26: Gamble

This had been one hell of a week for Qrow. He had discovered that the Black Knights are back and still working for Salem. He was no closer to finding who was responsible for Amber's condition. He just got back to see Yang off to Beacon. On top of that, Yang had trashed Junior Xiong's nightclub looking for her mother last night. Now for some reason, Ozpin was calling him in for some reason.

"Good morning Qrow." Ozpin said as he walked into the office. Qrow saw that Glynda was also there and so was…was that Octavia?

"Huh…what's she doing here?" Qrow pointed to the Arbiter Maiden.

"Kraken, is here to add to our discussion." Ozpin said.

"What's going on?" Qrow asked.

"How goes the investigation?" Ozpin dodged the question.

"I haven't found shit." Qrow cursed. "I'm no closer to finding Amber's assailant than I was months ago when it happened. Even the bit I've seen has disappeared from my mind."

"That's curious." Kraken said.

"Qrow, Salem is behind the attack." Glynda said.

"I figured that much." Qrow said. "I ran into the Black Knights when I was asking around."

"Very well…" Ozpin sighed. "I fear for what is to come in the Vytal Festival this fall."

"Salem has a lot of gears moving." Kraken said. "Us Arbiters are spread thin. We need to work together to keep the first power away from Salem."

"Handling ancient powers and cultures is YOUR job; the Maidens are ours. We'll handle this." Qrow stepped towards her.

"And AS both Maiden and Arbiter, I have the ONLY say." Kraken stepped towards him. They were now face to face.

"Qrow, please." Ozpin said. "Put your feelings against the Arbiters aside."

"Fine." Qrow stood down after a moment of silence.

"We're here to inform you of a…gamble I'm taking." Ozpin said.

"What kind of gamble?"

"Things are conspiring against the kingdoms of Remnant. We need to be ready. We don't have time to play things as we always do. Especially if we can't get ahold of the one who attacked Amber."

"What are you getting at?" Qrow said fearfully.

"We are still not sure who the Spring Maiden actually is. But we know who it most likely is. We also know for sure, that maiden or not…Salem will move to eliminate her."

"We already know this Oz!" Qrow said. "That's why you had me take a teaching job at Signal. That's why Avarice had this woman creeping in the shadows for years now."

"I'm sorry…but Patch, and by extension Signal…is no longer adequate." Ozpin said.

"I…I understand." Qrow said.

"I have it on good authority…" Glynda cut in. "That Roman Torchwick is going to rob From Dust Till Dawn tonight."

"One of Junior Xiong's men is an informant of ours." Ozpin said.

"We've long had a…mutual relation in terms of information." Glynda said.

"We also know that your family is going to be in that area." Kraken noted. "The pieces are already in motion. Now all that's left is to see if Ruby acts…frankly how I know she will."

"The only question is…do you think she's ready?" Ozpin said.

"Well." Qrow sunk his head down. He was fine with it. He knew Ruby would be ecstatic. Tai would be pissed but oh well. "Physically she is. She's strong, stronger than a lot of people this school tends to collect. My worry is that she's not emotionally ready. Of course, being here with Yang could help…or making it worse. It's your call."

"All I needed to hear." Ozpin took a sip of his coffee.

"I'll leave to inform Avarice." Kraken said. She blew a bubble that turned into a Black Gate and stepped through it.

"This is going to be an interesting semester." Ozpin chortled. "The Schnee heiress, a secretive Faunas, both your nieces, Pyrrha Nikos, and even Blanche Arc's son."

"I didn't know he had a son." Qrow said.

"I didn't either." Ozpin said. "He has…interesting transcripts."

"Yeah, I don't really care about all that." Qrow took a drink from his flask. "I especially don't care about Ice Queen's little sister."

"You and Winter are going to need to get along eventually." Glynda pleaded.

"Over my dead body. As for Nikos, I never bought into the whole Invincible Girl thing."

"We all know no one is invincible." Ozpin nodded.

"Ozpin, whatever happens, I'm with you." Qrow said. "I trust you."

"Thank you Qrow, it means a lot to me. I'm trying not to make the same mistake as before."

"I know." Glynda said. "We all trust your judgement, and we know you've tried to make up for past grievances, and we're here with you the whole way." She stepped out of the room, leaving Qrow and Ozpin alone.

"Obviously, with what's coming into play…you no longer need to be at Signal." Ozpin said.

"I know…I'm kind of looking forward to getting out of the class room and back to working for you full time."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"I'm off then." Qrow said. "I want to be there after Ruby gets the news."

"I wonder what her reaction will be. I've never let someone so young into my school before. How old is she? Fourteen?"

"Just turned fifteen in the fall." Qrow answered.

"Hmm." Ozpin took another drink. "I look forward to finally meeting her."

 **AN: And so it's complete. There's also a chapter of RWBYond Happily Ever After, that's probably going to be released before this. This chapter, is actually one of the earliest ideas I had for the RWBYond verse. I think I also implied it in a couple of my stories, but Ozpin setting everything up from the beginning explains a lot I think. Anyway, Review, favorite and I'll catch you early tomorrow with the release of the first chapter in RWBYond War.**


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